Carved and Gilt frame, Venetian, date about 1690, Mr. John Webb
Photograph
1853 (photographed)
1853 (photographed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
In 1853, Charles Thurston Thompson, the first Official Photographer of the South Kensington Museum (later the V&A), was commissioned to photograph a loan exhibition of furniture at Gore House, London. It was the first of many photographic campaigns documenting temporary loan exhibitions that were to become a hallmark of the Museum's photographic service. Such loan objects were photographed prior to their return to lenders so that photographic copies could be sold to designers, craftsmen and students, and also filed in the Museum's library for study. Thompson inadvertently included himself and his camera, reflected in the mirror. It gives us a vivid glimpse of a photographer at work outdoors - in the garden at Gore House - in the early days of the Museum and the profession of Museum Photography.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Carved and Gilt frame, Venetian, date about 1690, Mr. John Webb (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Albumen print |
| Brief description | Photograph by Charles Thurston Thompson, 'Carved and Gilt frame, Venetian, date about 1690, Mr. John Webb', albumen print, 1853 |
| Physical description | A sepia-colured photograph of the top half of a ornately carved gilded mirror mounted. In the reflection is visible a camera on a tripod and the operator of the camera. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | In 1853, Charles Thurston Thompson, the first Official Photographer of the South Kensington Museum (later the V&A), was commissioned to photograph a loan exhibition of furniture at Gore House, London. It was the first of many photographic campaigns documenting temporary loan exhibitions that were to become a hallmark of the Museum's photographic service. Such loan objects were photographed prior to their return to lenders so that photographic copies could be sold to designers, craftsmen and students, and also filed in the Museum's library for study. Thompson inadvertently included himself and his camera, reflected in the mirror. It gives us a vivid glimpse of a photographer at work outdoors - in the garden at Gore House - in the early days of the Museum and the profession of Museum Photography. |
| Associated objects | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 39705 |
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| Record created | February 10, 2014 |
| Record URL |
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