Lesson 6

There is no Victorian architecture in Paris.

Recently on the BBC’s antique show Flog It! a 19th century French hobby horse was described as mid to late Victorian.

I know that the British Empire was vast in the 19th century but the British Empire did not extend to Paris.

This artifact would have been correctly dated by simply identifying it as late 19th century. It could also have been described as late or post Napoleon 111, that is, the Second French Empire or in between the Second and Third Republic. But not Victorian.

Similarly, there is no Victoria architecture in Paris, there is however, architecture of the Second Republic and early Third Republic.

To refer to everything 19th century as Victorian, no matter where it originated, is not just a silly mistake but crass nationalistic arrogance.

 

For future reference –

Second Republic 1852 to 1870 and Third Republic 1870 to 1940.