Artwork
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a photographic photography by the Impressionist artist Reutlinger Studio. It dates from 1869 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. This small albumen print depicts the 19th‑century actress Amalia Strakosch.
About this work
These “cartes de visite,” the size of visiting cards, were hugely popular in the 1860s.
This is a vintage photo of actress Amalia Strakosch.
Made around 1869, it’s a small albumen print pasted on card.
These “cartes de visite,” the size of visiting cards, were hugely popular in the 1860s.
Before smartphones, people collected photos of stars like Strakosch.
The cards were cheap, easy to swap, and fit in albums.
They helped turn actors into household names.
Look up Reutlinger Studio next.
Overview
This small albumen print depicts the 19th‑century actress Amalia Strakosch. Produced as a carte de visite around 1869, the image is mounted on a stiff card typical of the format that circulated widely among Victorian collectors of theatrical portraiture.
Subject & Meaning
The portrait presents Strakosch in a pose suited to the conventions of studio photography, offering a glimpse of her public persona at a time when actors relied on such images to reach audiences beyond the stage. The photograph functions both as a personal keepsake and as a promotional tool, reinforcing her recognisability among theatre‑going patrons.
Technique & Style
Created using the albumen process, the photograph was made from a glass negative onto paper coated with egg‑white and silver nitrate, yielding a glossy surface and fine tonal range. The carte de visite format measured roughly 5 × 7 cm, allowing multiple copies to be produced and exchanged as part of the popular visiting‑card craze.
History & Provenance
The image originated in a larger collection of cartes de visite and cabinet cards that were later removed from their original backs and bound in albums by the collector Guy Tristram Little (d. 1953). Little, a solicitor and avid collector of ephemera, bequeathed the assembled albums to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where they now form part of the Theatre Collections.
Context
During the 1860s the carte de visite became a fashionable medium for sharing portraits of notable figures, including actors, scenic views, and artworks. Its popularity peaked before being superseded by larger cabinet cards in the late 1870s, and later by postcards, reflecting shifting tastes in visual communication and the growing celebrity culture of the Victorian era.
Artist & collection
Artist
This studio took photos of actors backstage in the 1800s. Their collection shows five theatrical portraits from the 1860s to 1900, all labeled Guy Little Theatrical Photograph. You’ll find the 1874 portrait, a clear…
