Artwork
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a photographic photography by Adolphe Braun. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
This studio portrait, taken in the nineteenth century by French photographer Adolphe Braun, depicts a theatrical performer in costume. The image was originally produced as a small albumen print mounted on a card, a common format for celebrity portraits circulated among the public during the Victorian era.
Subject & Meaning
The sitter is an actor captured in a staged setting, likely intended for promotional use. Such images served both as personal memorabilia for fans and as visual advertisements for the performer’s roles, reflecting the growing public fascination with theatre and celebrity culture in the period.
Technique & Style
Braun employed the albumen printing process, creating a glass negative that yielded a glossy, finely detailed paper print. The photograph conforms to the dimensions of the "carte de visite"—a visiting‑card sized portrait—characterized by its crisp tonal range and the modest studio backdrop typical of mid‑Victorian portraiture.
History & Provenance
The print formed part of a larger assemblage of cartes de visite and later cabinet cards that were removed from their original card backs and bound into albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1953). Little, a solicitor and avid collector of ephemera, bequeathed the albums to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where they now reside within the Theatre Collections.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jean Adolphe Braun was a French photographer, best known for his floral still lifes, Parisian street scenes, and grand Alpine landscapes.
