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Lace

Photograph
early 1840s (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Fox Talbot, William Henry (photographer)
Place of origin
Great Britain (photographed)

Salted paper print of lace; strong brown colour.

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read Cameraless photography Cameraless techniques have been exploited and reinterpreted by successive generations of image makers and continue to be used by contemporary artists today. While related to the conventional practices of photography, cameraless images offer an alternative, experimental, radical and often r...

Object details

Categories
Photographs
Portraits
The Royal Photographic Society
Object type
Photograph
TitleLace (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Salted paper print from a calotype negative. Not available for issue to the public in the Prints and Drawings Study Room due to light sensitivity. Please contact the Photography Department via our enquiry service for further information.
Salted Paper
Salted Paper Processes
Photography
Brief description
Photograph by William Henry Fox Talbot, 'Lace', salted paper print, early 1840s
Physical description
Salted paper print of lace; strong brown colour.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 232mm
  • Image width: 188mm
Marks and inscriptions
a or x (Recto, in pencil)
Gallery label
Cameraless Photography

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877)
Black Lace
early 1840s
Salt print from a photogenic drawing negative
23.2 x 18.8 cm
Museum no. RPS.110-2017 (RPS No. 025189 / Schaaf 2818)

Although this appears to be black lace, in fact either black or white lace would block the daylight from the sensitive negative paper, yielding very similar results. Talbot exhibited the original negative for this in 1852 at the Royal Society of Arts. It still retains its vigour even though it was used to make numerous prints.

The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund and Art Fund
Credit line
The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund.
Object history
From Miss Talbot, 1939.
Production
From a negative at the Fox Talbot Museum, LA2050; same as photographs in the RPS collection, RPS025190 (RPS.111-2017); at the Auckland Institute; at the National Science and Media Museum, 1937-1368; at MOMA, New York, 232.89; at the Harry Ransom Center, 964:054:15; at the National Gallery of Canada, P75:008:19; at George Eastman Museum, 81:2836:01; at the Chicago Insitute, 1967.152; at the Smithsonian, 1932 & 67.172.13.
Associated object
PROV.1596-2017 (RPS Group record)
Bibliographic reference
Schaaf, Larry John. The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2000. ISBN 0691050007.
Other numbers
  • RPS025189 - Royal Photographic Society number
  • old RPS 123 - Royal Photographic Society number
  • XRP591 - RPS collection - V&A identifier
Collection
Department of Photography
Accession number
RPS.110-2017

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Record createdMarch 27, 2017
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1387911/lace-photograph-fox-talbot-william/
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