Artwork
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a photographic photography by the Impressionist artist Unknown. It dates from 1896 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
The image is a black‑and‑white portrait of Dame Marie Tempest in the role of O Mimosa San from the Edwardian musical The Geisha, performed at Daly’s Theatre. The photograph captures the actress in full stage costume, presenting the elaborate dress and makeup that defined the character for contemporary audiences.
Subject & Meaning
Tempest’s pose and expression convey the exotic allure that the production marketed to London’s theatregoers. By depicting the performer in character, the image functioned as both a visual record of a specific role and a promotional tool, allowing admirers to recall the spectacle of the show and the star’s interpretation of the part.
Technique & Style
The picture is an albumen print produced from a glass negative, typical of mid‑Victorian photographic practice. It would have originally been mounted on a stiff card bearing the photographer’s imprint, a format that combined the clarity of the glass negative with the glossy surface of the albumen coating, yielding fine detail in costume and facial features.
History & Provenance
The photograph formed part of a larger assemblage of cartes de visite and cabinet cards collected by solicitor Guy Tristram Little (d. 1953). Little removed the original card backs and bound the images in albums, later bequeathing the collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it now resides among the theatre archives.
Context
During the 1860s–1880s, cartes de visite—small visiting‑card‑sized portraits—became a popular collectible, later supplanted by larger cabinet cards. Actors and actresses frequently commissioned such images in everyday attire or stage costume to distribute to patrons, effectively an early form of celebrity merchandising within the Victorian and Edwardian theatre culture.
Artist & collection
Domestic Scene
Giacomo and Cardinal Marco, investing Andrea, Abbot of San Zeno, with his Benefice
The Nymph of Fontainebleau
Portrait of a Woman
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Enclosed Garden
Venus and Minerva
Family Group of Four on Sofa
Wall painting from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
