Artwork
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a photographic photography by the Impressionist artist London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company. It dates from 1880 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
The image is a late‑nineteenth‑century studio portrait of the actress Alice Lethbridge, printed on a stiff card that bears the photographer’s name. The format corresponds to the cabinet card, a popular photographic medium that succeeded the smaller cartes de visite in the 1870s.
Subject & Meaning
Lethbridge is shown in theatrical costume, a common practice for performers who commissioned images for public distribution. Such portraits served both as promotional material and as collectible memorabilia for admirers of the stage.
Technique & Style
The photograph was produced from a glass negative and printed as an albumen print, a process that involved coating paper with egg white and silver nitrate to create a glossy surface. After development, the image was adhered to a cardboard backing, a standard method for cabinet cards.
History & Provenance
The card originated in a larger assemblage of cartes de visite and cabinet cards that were later removed from their original 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.
Context
During the Victorian era, photographic portraits of actors and actresses became fashionable collectibles, akin to trading cards. The shift from cartes de visite to the larger cabinet cards reflected changing tastes for more substantial, durable images before postcards eventually eclipsed both formats in the 1890s.
Artist & collection
Artist
London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company
They snapped portraits for London’s theater crowd in the 1800s, turning actors and dancers into instant celebrities.
