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Corn Exchange, Bristol

Photograph
ca.1848 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Educated at Oxford and a mathematician, musician, painter and photographer, Calvert Richard Jones was introduced to photography by a cousin of William Henry Fox Talbot, the British inventor of the negative/positive process.
With its distinctive colonnaded frontage onto Narrow Quay, the Old Corn Exchange had overlooked the busy city centre moorings since the late 17th century. When Calvert Jones photographed the building, it was occupied by tradesmen: workers in metal and wood and a dealer in ship's stores. The open colonnade provided shelter only for seasoning timber and the deteriorating building would be demolished in 1949.

Object details

Category
Object type
TitleCorn Exchange, Bristol (generic title)
Materials and techniques
salted paper print from calotype negative
Brief description
Corn Exchange, Bristol, salted paper print from calotype negative, ca.1848
Physical description
Photograph of the Corn Exchange, Narrow Quay, Bristol. Open under front of building with 6 supports. Notice boards of several tradesmen on facade. Fading to the left and lower edges of image.
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.1cm
  • Width: 21.4cm
Object history
With its distinctive colonnade frontage onto Narrow Quay, the Old Corn Exchange had overlooked the busy city centre moorings since the late 17th century. When Calvert Jones photographed the building, it was occupied by tradesmen: workers in metal and wood and a dealer in ship's stores. The open colonnade provided shelter only for seasoning timber and the deteriorating building would be demolished in 1949.
Historical context
During the 1840s, signs indicate that the Old Corn Exchange was used by G. Wadge, Carpenter, Joiner and Undertaker; Simmons, Tin Plate and Sheet Iron Worker; E.King, Seaman's Shipping and J Sulley, Block and Pump Maker. A similar photograph, from the same viewpoint was taken by Hugh Owen. The original is lost, but a copy is reproduced in Reece, Winstone, Bristol's Earliest Photographs, 1974. A watercolour (1825, Bristol City Museum) by Thomas Rowbotham, shows the Old Corn Exchange on Narrow Quay and the 'street full of ships'.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Educated at Oxford and a mathematician, musician, painter and photographer, Calvert Richard Jones was introduced to photography by a cousin of William Henry Fox Talbot, the British inventor of the negative/positive process.
With its distinctive colonnaded frontage onto Narrow Quay, the Old Corn Exchange had overlooked the busy city centre moorings since the late 17th century. When Calvert Jones photographed the building, it was occupied by tradesmen: workers in metal and wood and a dealer in ship's stores. The open colonnade provided shelter only for seasoning timber and the deteriorating building would be demolished in 1949.
Collection
Accession number
PH.59-1983

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Record createdSeptember 12, 2007
Record URL
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