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Not currently on display at the V&A

Photograph

6 September 1886 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Rupert Potter (1832-1914), father of the children's writer and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), took up photography in the 1860s when it was still a relatively new art form. An enthusiastic and skilled amateur, he was elected to the Photographic Society of London in 1869 and later contributed to photographic exhibitions. Rupert assisted the artist Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896), a close friend, by photographing backgrounds for paintings and sitters for portraits. His favourite subject, however, was Beatrix herself and his prolific legacy of several hundred photographs forms a broad pictorial account of her life from infancy to marriage.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Albumen print on paper
Brief description
Unidentified country house, with gravestone, by Rupert Potter, Great Britain, 6 Sept 1886, Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.2085.
Physical description
A house with bay windows to left, striped curtains and gariage in front of which is a carriage. A man stands in front of the house leaning on the gate. To the lower left, partially cut off, is a gravestone featuring the name of a member of the Potter family.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10.8cm (Note: approximate)
  • Width: 16.6cm (Note: approximate)
Marks and inscriptions
  • Sep 6 / 1886 (back)
  • PHOTOGRAPHED BY / RUPERT POTTER. (stamped on back)
  • IN / [M]EMORY OF / [...?N] DENNIS POTTER / [...] JUNE 26 1849 / [AG]ED [?4]5 YEARS / [...] (partial inscription seen on gravestone in image)
Credit line
Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number]
Object history
Acquired by the V&A from Leslie Linder (1904-1973) in 1973 as part of the Linder Bequest, a collection of ca. 2150 watercolours, drawings, literary manuscripts, correspondence, books, photographs, and other memorabilia associated with Beatrix Potter and her family.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Rupert Potter (1832-1914), father of the children's writer and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), took up photography in the 1860s when it was still a relatively new art form. An enthusiastic and skilled amateur, he was elected to the Photographic Society of London in 1869 and later contributed to photographic exhibitions. Rupert assisted the artist Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896), a close friend, by photographing backgrounds for paintings and sitters for portraits. His favourite subject, however, was Beatrix herself and his prolific legacy of several hundred photographs forms a broad pictorial account of her life from infancy to marriage.
Bibliographic reference
Hobbs, Anne Stevenson, and Joyce Irene Whalley, eds. Beatrix Potter: the V & A collection : the Leslie Linder bequest of Beatrix Potter material : watercolours, drawings, manuscripts, books, photographs and memorabilia. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985. Hobbs, Anne Stevenson, and Joyce Irene Whalley, eds. Beatrix Potter: the V & A collection: the Leslie Linder bequest of Beatrix Potter material: watercolours, drawings, manuscripts, books, photographs and memorabilia. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985.
Other number
LB.2085 - Linder Bequest catalogue no.
Collection
Library number
BP.1532

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Record createdApril 2, 2019
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