Artwork
National Photographic Record and Survey
National Photographic Record and Survey is a photographic photography by Benjamin Stone. It dates from 1901 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
The figures are set into a wall, with a half-circle arch above them that looks like it might be part of a larger building.
This is a black-and-white photo of carved stone figures standing in a row. They look like people in old-fashioned clothes—men wearing doublets and hats, women in long dresses with ruffled collars. The figures are set into a wall, with a half-circle arch above them that looks like it might be part of a larger building.
The photo was taken in 1901, and the figures are labeled as being in the garden wall of Hatfield House. Their stiff poses and detailed clothing suggest they’re meant to look like real people from long ago.
Check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more photos like this.
Overview
The image is a black‑and‑white photograph taken in 1901 by Sir Benjamin Stone. It records a series of stone carvings set into the garden wall of Hatfield House, arranged in a semi‑circular composition that frames a central figure.
Subject & Meaning
The carved figures represent men in doublets and hats and women in long, ruffled‑collar dresses, evoking historical costume. Their rigid postures and detailed attire suggest an intention to portray recognizable individuals from an earlier era, perhaps as a decorative narrative on the estate’s architecture.
Technique & Style
Stone reliefs are integrated into the masonry, their three‑dimensional forms captured in monochrome by Stone’s early photographic process. The photograph emphasizes contrast between light and shadow, highlighting the depth of the carvings and the arch that crowns the arrangement.
History & Provenance
The photograph originates from Stone’s National Photographic Record and Survey, a systematic documentation of British heritage sites. The image entered the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection, where it serves as a visual record of Hatfield House’s ornamental stonework at the turn of the twentieth century.
Context
Hatfield House, a Tudor‑era country house in Hertfordshire, features a garden wall embellished with these figures, reflecting the period’s interest in historicism and the embellishment of aristocratic estates with narrative sculpture.
Artist & collection
Artist
Benjamin Stone made photographs of everyday life in Britain at the turn of the 20th century.
"France Triumphant", Versailles, France
Bas-relief of Temple of Hercules in terra cotta
Untitled (theatrical scene with seven costumed figures)
Simplicius among the Soldiers
Zaragoza, Casa de los Gigantes, (now Audiencia)
Bas-relief of the Temple of Hercules in terra cotta
Marble herma with the head of Baccus ornamented with vine leaves and fruit
Orangery and Flower Garden at Singleton, Glamorganshire
Comus
Antique bronze group of two figures
Sculptures - Sarcophagus, with a Sculpture of the third century, representing the Portrait of the deceased surrounded by Minerva and the Muses, now the Tomb of Monsignor Spinelli in the Church of the Priorato on the Aventine
Untitled