Photograph
| Artist/Maker |
Photographs and photographers were present from the very beginning of the V&A's history and the Museum has an extensive collection of images from the 1850s through to the present which documents Museum objects including objects on loan.
Originally collected by the National Art Library as part of a programme to record works of art, architecture and design in the interest of public education, these records of Museum objects were valued as records and as source material for students of architecture and design. As well as being crucial records of the history of the V&A, and an important element within the National Art Library's visual encyclopaedia, these photographs are also significant artefacts in the history of the art of photography.
Isabel Cowper was the sister of the South Kensington Museum's first official photographer, Charles Thurston Thompson (1816-1868) and of the Superintendent of the Museum, Richard A. Thompson. Little is known about Cowper, but in her letter of resignation in 1891, she refers to herself as the Museum's 'Official Photographer', having taken up the position after the death of her brother. As such, she is an important part of the early history of V&A and a seminal figure behind the Museum’s early uptake of photography to document the arts.
Originally collected by the National Art Library as part of a programme to record works of art, architecture and design in the interest of public education, these records of Museum objects were valued as records and as source material for students of architecture and design. As well as being crucial records of the history of the V&A, and an important element within the National Art Library's visual encyclopaedia, these photographs are also significant artefacts in the history of the art of photography.
Isabel Cowper was the sister of the South Kensington Museum's first official photographer, Charles Thurston Thompson (1816-1868) and of the Superintendent of the Museum, Richard A. Thompson. Little is known about Cowper, but in her letter of resignation in 1891, she refers to herself as the Museum's 'Official Photographer', having taken up the position after the death of her brother. As such, she is an important part of the early history of V&A and a seminal figure behind the Museum’s early uptake of photography to document the arts.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | albumen print from wet collodion on glass negative |
| Brief description | Photograph by Isabel Agnes Cowper, 'Brown Satin Jacket', albumen print from a glass plate negative, ca. 1873 |
| Physical description | A mounted sepia-coloured photographed of an intricately embrodered waistcoat accented by contrasting fabric. A printed label has been attached to the bottom centre of the mount. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | '99. BROWN SATIN JACKET, embroidered in green silk cord / and gimp, said to have been worn by King Charles I. / English. 17th centy. / Lent by the Baroness Willoughby de Eresby.' (printed label attached to bottom centre of mount) |
| Gallery label | Cast CourtS Reinstallation, 27 November 2018
7. FACSIMILE PHOTOGRAPH OF
'99. BROWN SATIN JACKET, embroidered in green silk cord / and gimp, said to have been worn by King Charles I. / English. 17th centy. / Lent by the Baroness Willoughby de Eresby .'
Isabel Agnes Cowper, 1874
When Charles Thurston Thompson died unexpectedly in 1868, his sister Isabel Agnes Cowper took charge of the Museum's Photographic Studio and ran it until 1891. This photograph of a 17th-century jacket comes from a set she took of a needlework exhibition at the Museum in 1873. Cowper was particularly skilled at conveying shadow and detail. By producing this photograph in a large format, she could show the intricate stitch-work for needleworkers to copy.
REPRODUCED FROM
Albumen print
South Kensington, London
Museum no 74934B
(27 November 2018) |
| Subject depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | Photographs and photographers were present from the very beginning of the V&A's history and the Museum has an extensive collection of images from the 1850s through to the present which documents Museum objects including objects on loan. Originally collected by the National Art Library as part of a programme to record works of art, architecture and design in the interest of public education, these records of Museum objects were valued as records and as source material for students of architecture and design. As well as being crucial records of the history of the V&A, and an important element within the National Art Library's visual encyclopaedia, these photographs are also significant artefacts in the history of the art of photography. Isabel Cowper was the sister of the South Kensington Museum's first official photographer, Charles Thurston Thompson (1816-1868) and of the Superintendent of the Museum, Richard A. Thompson. Little is known about Cowper, but in her letter of resignation in 1891, she refers to herself as the Museum's 'Official Photographer', having taken up the position after the death of her brother. As such, she is an important part of the early history of V&A and a seminal figure behind the Museum’s early uptake of photography to document the arts. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 74934B |
About this object record
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| Record created | November 4, 2015 |
| Record URL |
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