The Salutation thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Not currently on display at the V&A
On short term loan out for exhibition

The Salutation

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
TitleThe Salutation (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative.
Brief description
Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 'The Salutation' (sitters Mary Hillier, Mary Kellaway), albumen print, 1864
Physical description
A photograph of two standing women (Mary Hillier and Mary Kellaway) with draped heads. One leans into the other who stands in profile.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 25.5cm
  • Image width: 21.3cm
  • Mount height: 39cm
  • Mount width: 30cm
Style
Credit line
Given by Mrs Margaret Southam, 1941
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceLuke 1:36-56
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. 118, p.161, ill.
  • Wolf, Sylvia. Julia Margaret Cameron's Women. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, p. 65.
  • Taken from Photography Department index card catalogue
Collection
Accession number
PH.347-1981

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Record createdApril 22, 2009
Record URL
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