Guy Little Theatrical Photograph
1858
photographic
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1858
photographic
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Guy Little Theatrical Photograph is a 1858 photographic by Unknown, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This photo shows Charles Kean on stage as King Lear. He stands in a dark costume with a crown, holding a prop staff. The backdrop is plain and shadowy. Before phones, fans bought these small prints to collect actors. They’d paste them in albums, like baseball cards for theater. This one’s an albumen print on thin card. See one of these at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
A hand-coloured photograph from 1858 depicts Charles Kean in the role of King Lear at the Princess's Theatre. Produced as an albumen print from a glass negative, the image was mounted on card as part of a carte de visite, a popular format for actor portraits during the 1860s. The photograph is one of many theatrical cartes de visite and cabinet cards collected by Guy Tristram Little and later donated to the V&A.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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