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Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Lace

Photograph
ca. 1839 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Fox Talbot, William Henry (photographer)
Place of origin
Great Britain (photographed)

Paper negative - photogenic drawing, purple brown colour.

Object details

Categories
Photographs
Portraits
The Royal Photographic Society
Object type
Photograph
TitleLace (generic title)
Materials and techniques
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.
Photographic Paper
Photogenic Drawing
Photography
Brief description
Photograph by William Henry Fox Talbot, 'Lace', paper negative - photogenic drawing, ca. 1839
Physical description
Paper negative - photogenic drawing, purple brown colour.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 160mm
  • Image width: 214mm
Marks and inscriptions
20 (Recto of mount, in pencil)
Gallery label
Cameraless Photography

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877)
Lace
1844
Photogenic drawing negative
16 x 21.4 cm
Museum no. RPS.158-2017 (RPS No. 025237 / Schaaf 4041-4042)

This image was published in Talbot’s The Pencil of Nature, his pioneering explanation of photography and his manifesto for its possibilities. In the text accompanying this image, he wrote: ‘… in copying such things as lace or leaves of plants, a negative image is perfectly allowable, black lace being as familiar to the eye as white lace, and the object being only to exhibit the pattern with accuracy.’ It is the only plate in The Pencil of Nature that was a unique negative in each copy; the other 23 plates were prints made from a common negative.

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.
Production
Similar to Pencil of Nature, plate 20.
Associated object
PROV.1597-2017 (RPS Group record)
Bibliographic references
  • The Pencil of Nature, by W H Fox Talbot (London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1844): 20.
  • Schaaf, Larry John. The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2000. ISBN 0691050007.
Other numbers
  • RPS025237 - Royal Photographic Society number
  • 2003-5001/2/23898 - Science Museum Group accession number
  • XRP592 - RPS collection - V&A identifier
Collection
Department of Photography
Accession number
RPS.158-2017

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Record createdMarch 28, 2017
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1388033/lace-photograph-fox-talbot-william/
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