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Mr Rarey and Cruiser

Photograph
1858 (made)
Artist/Maker
Caldesi & Montecchi (makers)

Black and white photograph of a horse and a man outside next to a building on the left. The man is holding the horse's right front hoof with his hidden hand.

Object details

Category
Photographs
Object type
Photograph
TitleMr Rarey and Cruiser (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print
Photographic Paper
Photography
Albumen Process
Brief description
Photograph by Caldesi & Montecchi, Mr Rarey and Cruiser, 1858, 19thC, Townshend Bequest;
Physical description
Black and white photograph of a horse and a man outside next to a building on the left. The man is holding the horse's right front hoof with his hidden hand.
Dimensions
  • Image width: 249mm
  • Image height: 208 mm
Gallery label
Photography Centre 2018-20:



Collection in Focus: Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798–1868)

Chauncy Hare Townshend was one of the few serious collectors of photography in the early years of its development. Apart from Prince Albert, he remains the only identifiable British private collector of early photographs on such a scale. He was an extremely wealthy art collector and connoisseur who moved in the highest social and literary circles – Charles Dickens even dedicated Great Expectations to him. Townshend bequeathed his large art collection, including paintings, furniture, gemstones, books and coins, as well as his photographs, to the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) in 1868. His impressive photography collection ranged from images of political, military and contemporary events to a particularly striking group of French fine art photographs. Practising photographers tended to collect photographs, exchanging works as examples of style and process. But Townshend, who was not a photographer, recognised both photography’s documentary value, and even more so, its exciting new artistic capabilities.

8. Leonida Caldesi (1823–91) and Mattia Montecchi (1816–71)
Mr Rarey and Cruiser
1858
Albumen print
Museum no. 68039
Credit line
Bequeathed by Chauncey Hare Townshend
Subjects depicted
Horse
John Solomon Rarey
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
68039

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1100842/mr-rarey-and-cruiser-photograph-caldesi--montecchi/
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