Guy Little Theatrical Photograph

Terry, one of the era’s leading actresses, is shown in full stage costume, illustrating the close relationship between theatrical performance and the emerging medium of photography. The portrait serves both as a record of a specific role and as a promotional image for the production.

The print is an albumen photograph, typical of the late‑19th‑century cartes de visite and cabinet cards. These were made from glass‑negative negatives and mounted on stiff card stock bearing the photographer’s imprint. The format allowed for relatively small, detailed portraits that could be exchanged or collected.

The photograph originated in a series of theatrical cartes de visite and cabinet cards that were later removed from their original backs and bound into albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1953). Little, a solicitor and avid collector of ephemera, bequeathed his assemblage to the V&A, where it now documents Victorian theatrical culture.