Artwork
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a photographic photography by the Impressionist artist Burton & Co.. It dates from 1878 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The image captures Shiel Barry in the role of Father Gaspard from the operetta Les Cloches de Corneville, performed at the Folly Theatre.
About this work
Overview
The image captures Shiel Barry in the role of Father Gaspard from the operetta Les Cloches de Corneville, performed at the Folly Theatre. It is a Victorian-era photographic portrait, typical of the period’s practice of documenting stage performers in costume.
Subject & Meaning
The portrait presents the actor in full theatrical attire, emphasizing the character’s clerical dress and the visual spectacle of 19th‑century operatic productions. It serves both as a record of Barry’s performance and as a promotional image for the show.
Technique & Style
Created as an albumen print from a glass negative, the photograph follows the format of mid‑Victorian cartes de visite and later cabinet cards. The image is mounted on a stiff card bearing the photographer’s imprint, reflecting the standard commercial process for portraiture at the time.
History & Provenance
The card originated in a larger assemblage of cartes de visite and cabinet cards that were later stripped from their original backs and compiled into albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1953). Little, a solicitor and avid collector of ephemera, bequeathed the assembled collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Context
During the 1860s and 1870s, cartes de visite became a fashionable means of exchanging portrait images, eventually giving way to larger cabinet cards before the rise of postcards in the 1890s. Photographs of actors in costume were a popular subset, catering to theatre audiences and collectors alike.
Artist & collection
Artist
Burton & Co. turned Victorian London’s backstage chaos into high art. Their photos feel less like stiff portraits and more like candid snapshots of actors mid-change—corsets half-laced, wigs askew—caught between drama…
