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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case X, Shelf 311, Box J

Seraphim and Cherubim

Photograph
1864 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Julia Margaret Cameron's mentor and friend, the artist G.F. Watts wrote to Cameron, ‘Please do not send me valuable mounted copies … send me any … defective unmounted impressions, I shall be able to judge just as well & shall be just as much charmed with success & shall not feel that I am taking money from you.’ This is one of approximately 67 in the V&A's collection that was recently discovered to have belonged to him. Many are unique, which suggests that Cameron was not fully satisfied with them. Some may seem ‘defective’ but others are enhanced by their flaws. All of them contribute to our understanding of Cameron’s working process and the photographs that did meet her standards.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSeraphim and Cherubim (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative
Brief description
Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 'Seraphim and Cherubim' (sitters Elizabeth Keown, Alice Keown(?), Freddy Gould), albumen print, 1864
Physical description
A photograph of three children (Elizabeth Keown, Alice Keown (?) and Freddy Gould) seated and draped in cloth. Elizabeth and Alice (?) are shown with clasped hands
Dimensions
  • Image height: 234mm
  • Image width: 216mm
  • Mount height: 338mm
  • Mount width: 282mm
  • Mount height: 580mm
  • Mount width: 380mm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
"Studies for painting" in ink in top left verso of mount. "Registered Photograph" in ink bottom left verso of mount
Credit line
Given by Mrs Margaret Southam, 1941
Subjects depicted
Summary
Julia Margaret Cameron's mentor and friend, the artist G.F. Watts wrote to Cameron, ‘Please do not send me valuable mounted copies … send me any … defective unmounted impressions, I shall be able to judge just as well & shall be just as much charmed with success & shall not feel that I am taking money from you.’ This is one of approximately 67 in the V&A's collection that was recently discovered to have belonged to him. Many are unique, which suggests that Cameron was not fully satisfied with them. Some may seem ‘defective’ but others are enhanced by their flaws. All of them contribute to our understanding of Cameron’s working process and the photographs that did meet her standards.
Bibliographic references
  • Ford, Colin and Cox, Julian. Julia Margaret Cameron: The Complete Photographs. London: Thames and Hudson, 2003. Cat. no. 865, p.381, ill.
  • Weaver, Mike. Whisper of the Muse: The Overstone album and other photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron. Malibu, California: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1986, p. 83.
Collection
Accession number
220-1969

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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