[Charles Calverley]
1864–66
![[Charles Calverley] by Thompson Gallery](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/charles-calverley-685459.webp)
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Approx. 10.2 x 6.3 cm (4 x 2 1/2 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Albert Ten Eyck Gardner Collection, Gift of the Centennial Committee, 1970
Accession Number
1970.659.117
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate albumen silver print from the Thompson Gallery captures Charles Calverley in a formal portrait dating to 1864–66. Measuring just 4 by 2½ inches, the image exemplifies the carte-de-visite format that made photography accessible to the growing middle class during the Civil War era. Such small, affordable portraits allowed individuals to exchange likenesses with family and friends, turning photography into a shared social practice. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg-white emulsion, produced the rich tonal depth and fine detail prized in mid-nineteenth-century studio wor...