Artwork
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a photographic photography by the Impressionist artist W. & D. Downey. It dates from 1881 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
The image is a Victorian-era portrait of actress Marion Hood in the role of Constance from the production of Claude Duval at the Olympic Theatre. It is a photographic print that originally appeared on a small-format collectible card, typical of the period’s popular portrait media.
Subject & Meaning
The portrait captures Hood in theatrical costume, presenting the character she portrayed onstage. Such images served both as personal memorabilia for admirers and as promotional material, linking the performer’s public persona with the dramatic work.
Technique & Style
The picture was produced from a glass negative using the albumen printing process, a standard method for mid‑19th‑century cartes de visite and cabinet cards. The print was mounted on a stiff card bearing the photographer’s imprint, a hallmark of the commercial portrait trade of the era.
History & Provenance
The card formed part of a larger assemblage of cartes de visite and cabinet cards collected by Guy Tristram Little, a solicitor and avid collector of ephemera. Upon his death in 1953, Little bequeathed the collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it now resides.
Context
During the 1860s, cartes de visite became a fashionable pastime, with millions produced and exchanged. By the late 1870s they were superseded by larger cabinet cards, which remained popular until the rise of postcards in the 1890s. Photographs of actors in costume were a common subject within this trend.
Artist & collection
Artist
These sisters turned a London studio into a backstage pass for Victorian theater.
