This photograph shows the diminutive ballad singer, actor and comedian Frederick Robson as Jem Bags, the bedraggled Cockney street singer that he played in the one act farce The Wandering Minstrel at the Olympic Theatre in May 1853. Jem Bags sang Villikins and his Dinah (or Vilikins and his Dinah) at the end of the farce. It became the hit of the season, and the song became known in English speaking countries around the world.

Robson (1821-1864) who was born in Margate Thomas Brownhill, became a star of the Olympic Theatre and eventually one of its managers. He had a great talent for burlesque, or performances that parodied the originals, and one of his starring roles was his imitation of Adelaide Ristori as Medea. He became a great favourite of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who invited him to Windsor Castle for several command performances.

Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken, in everyday dress or theatrical costume, for ‘cartes de visite’, and later ‘cabinet cards’. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer’s name.

‘Cartes de visite’, the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art, as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier ‘cabinet cards’ whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.

This photograph comes from a large collection of ‘cartes de visite’ and ‘cabinet cards’ removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d.1953) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cards, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster, and the solicitor and executor of Mrs. Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.