The Silver Palace, also known as The Golden Poppy, was a spectacular one‑act “masque or water pageant” first added to the end of George Almar’s melodrama The Cedar Chest, or The Lord Mayor’s Daughter at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in 1834. Designed as a lavish afterpiece featuring music, fireworks, aquatic effects, and dramatic battles, it culminated in a confrontation between King Volocano of Mount Etna and Coral Crown, the Water King, accompanied by their respective armies of fire and water spirits.
The play became a favourite subject for 19th‑century toy theatre publishers. J. K. Green first issued a toy theatre edition in 1841, later reprinted by John Redington and then by Benjamin Pollock, whose hand‑coloured sheets were still being sold into the 20th century. Multiple publishers, including Skelt and Dyer, produced their own versions, making The Silver Palace one of the most widely circulated spectacle pieces in the juvenile drama tradition.
