Folded piece of crape cloth
Print
May 1857 (photoengraving)
May 1857 (photoengraving)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Talbot was the British inventor of photography. In 1834 he discovered how to make and fix images through the action of light and chemistry on paper. These ‘negatives’ could be used to make multiple prints. This revolutionised image making.
Talbot excelled in many fields, including mathematics, optics, botany and chemistry. However, it was his inability to master drawing outdoors that prompted him to experiment with capturing images inside a camera. He published his photographic discoveries and ideas, illustrated with original photographs, in his book The Pencil of Nature. Talbot patented his negative photographic process, which he called the ‘calotype’, in 1841. Later, he pioneered photographic engraving – printing photographs in ink. His processes became the basis of virtually all subsequent photography.
Talbot excelled in many fields, including mathematics, optics, botany and chemistry. However, it was his inability to master drawing outdoors that prompted him to experiment with capturing images inside a camera. He published his photographic discoveries and ideas, illustrated with original photographs, in his book The Pencil of Nature. Talbot patented his negative photographic process, which he called the ‘calotype’, in 1841. Later, he pioneered photographic engraving – printing photographs in ink. His processes became the basis of virtually all subsequent photography.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Folded piece of crape cloth (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Print by William Henry Fox Talbot, 'Folded piece of crape cloth', photoglyphic engraving, 1857 |
| Physical description | Photographic engraving, mounted on light card. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Folded Crape. Photo-engraving by Fox Talbot, May, 1857, showing method of producing grain. (Recto, on label, in Charles Henry Talbot's hand (son of the artist).) |
| Gallery label | Photography Centre 2018-20:
William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–77)
Talbot was the British inventor of photography. In 1834 he discovered how to make and fix images through the action of light and chemistry on paper. These ‘negatives’ could be used to make multiple prints. This revolutionised image making.
Talbot excelled in many fields, including mathematics, optics, botany and chemistry. However, it was his inability to master drawing outdoors that prompted him to experiment with capturing images inside a camera. He published his photographic discoveries and ideas, illustrated with original photographs, in his book The Pencil of Nature. Talbot patented his negative photographic process, which he called the ‘calotype’, in 1841. Later, he pioneered photographic engraving – printing photographs in ink. His processes became the basis of virtually all subsequent photography.
You can see how calotypes are made in the ‘Dark Tent’ film room in Room 99.
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 | Same as photographs in the RPS collection, RPS025498, RPS025525; from frame with a label for Whitechapel Art Gallery Photographic Exhibition 1905. Mirror image of a photograph illustrated in Sun Pictures, Catalogue 3, plate 67. |
| Summary | Talbot was the British inventor of photography. In 1834 he discovered how to make and fix images through the action of light and chemistry on paper. These ‘negatives’ could be used to make multiple prints. This revolutionised image making. Talbot excelled in many fields, including mathematics, optics, botany and chemistry. However, it was his inability to master drawing outdoors that prompted him to experiment with capturing images inside a camera. He published his photographic discoveries and ideas, illustrated with original photographs, in his book The Pencil of Nature. Talbot patented his negative photographic process, which he called the ‘calotype’, in 1841. Later, he pioneered photographic engraving – printing photographs in ink. His processes became the basis of virtually all subsequent photography. |
| Bibliographic reference | Schaaf, Larry John. The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2000. ISBN 0691050007. |
| Other number | RPS025522 - Royal Photographic Society number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | RPS.241-2017 |
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| Record created | March 31, 2017 |
| Record URL |
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