Astounding Apparition! thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case X, Shelf 546, Box A

Astounding Apparition!

Photograph
c.1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Laroche, Martin

Anon. 'Astouding Apparition !' (ghost photography), c.1860

Delve deeper

Discover more about this object
watch A brief history of ghosts and spirit photography Can objects in our collection shine a light on the existence of ghosts, or at least what the Victorians believed about them?

Object details

Category
Photographs
Object type
Photograph
TitleAstounding Apparition! (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Stereoscopic photograph
Card
Photography
Brief description
Anon. 'Astouding Apparition !' (ghost photography), c.1860
Dimensions
  • Size of card height: 8.2cm
  • Width: 17.5cm
Gallery label
  • Making It Up: Photographic Fictions (2018) Marta Weiss Stereographs were produced in vast quantities and depicted a great range of subjects, from the educational to the absurd. At the humorous end of the spectrum were novelties such as stuffed frogs playing pool, supernatural tableaux and cartoonish domestic scenes.
  • Label for 'Making It Up: Photographic Fictions' (3 May 2013 - 12 January 2014): Probably John Reynolds The Angel's Whisper James Elliott (1835–1903) Mary Queen of Scots. A Prisoner Unknown photographers The Captive Woman selling apples from a basket Probably Martin Laroche (1810–86) Astounding Apparition! Unknown photographer Frogs playing pool and smoking clay pipes About 1860 A stereograph is a pair of photographic images of the same subject taken from slightly different angles. This gives the illusion of a three-dimensional image when viewed through a stereoscope. These optical devices occupied a place in the drawing room, as a television might today, providing entertainment that was both amusing and instructive. Stereographs were the most popular outlet for staged and narrative photography in the 19th century. Stereographs Museum nos. 107, 113, 124, 127, 147-1957, 679-1943
Subjects depicted
Stereoscopes
Stereograph
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
113-1957

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1044782/astounding-apparition-photograph-laroche-martin/
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest