Artwork
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a photographic photography by French Photographic Co.. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. This studio portrait captures the Victorian actress Phyllis Broughton on a cabinet‑card format.
About this work
Overview
This studio portrait captures the Victorian actress Phyllis Broughton on a cabinet‑card format. Produced as an albumen print from a glass negative, the image is mounted on a stiff card that originally bore the photographer’s imprint on its reverse. The photograph forms part of a larger assemblage of 19th‑century portrait cards that were popular collectibles in the era.
Subject & Meaning
Phyllis Broughton, a stage performer of the late 1800s, is presented in a formal pose typical of theatrical portraiture. The image emphasizes her costume and bearing, offering a visual record of a performer’s public persona and the way actors curated their image for admirers and patrons through printed likenesses.
Technique & Style
The picture is an albumen print, a process that involved coating paper with egg white and silver nitrate before exposing it to a glass negative. The resulting tonal range and fine detail were well suited to the small, glossy cards that circulated as cartes de visite and later as larger cabinet cards, each bearing the photographer’s name on the back.
History & Provenance
The card originated in the late 19th century, when such portrait cards were mass‑produced for personal exchange. It was later removed from its original backing and mounted in an album by Guy Tristram Little, a solicitor and avid collector of photographs, greeting cards and games. Little bequeathed his collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it now resides.
Context
During the Victorian period, portrait cards evolved from the petite cartes de visite—patented in 1854 and collected in the millions—to the sturdier cabinet cards of the 1870s and 1880s. These items functioned as early social media, allowing individuals to share images of acquaintances, celebrities, and scenic views within personal albums and among friends.
Artist & collection
Artist
The French Photographic Co. was the Instagram of 1880s Paris, cranking out crisp 8x10 portraits of actors mid-scene, frozen in costume and gaslight. They shot every star of the Boulevard du Crime, from Duse to Coquelin,…
