Artwork
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a photographic photography by Window & Grove. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
This photograph shows Rose Bell in character.
It was taken by Window & Grove in the late 19th century. Photography was new and exciting back then.
People collected photos like these, called 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards', which were made from glass negatives and printed on card.
You can learn more about this kind of photography at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Overview
This portrait presents actress Rose Bell in a theatrical role, captured by the photographic studio Window & Grove toward the end of the nineteenth century. The image is an albumen print produced from a glass negative and originally mounted on a stiff card, a common format for personal portraiture in the Victorian era.
Technique & Style
The photograph exemplifies the cartes de visite and cabinet‑card tradition, where a silver‑gelatin emulsion on paper was coated with egg white to create a glossy surface. The small, finely detailed image was printed on card stock bearing the studio’s name, reflecting the period’s fascination with reproducible, collectible portraiture.
History & Provenance
The card was removed from its original backing and incorporated into an album assembled by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1953). Little, a solicitor and avid collector of greeting cards, games and photographs, donated his extensive assemblage to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it now forms part of the theatre photography collection.
Context
During the 1860s and 1870s, cartes de visite became a social craze, allowing the public to exchange and display images of notable figures, including actors in costume. By the late 1870s larger cabinet cards supplanted the smaller format, before postcards and studio portraiture later eclipsed them in popularity.
Artist & collection
Artist
These photos freeze moments from late-19th-century and early-20th-century theater.
