[Henry Brittan Willis]
![[Henry Brittan Willis] by John and Charles Watkins](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/henry-brittan-willis-686165.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
1970.659.826
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the 1860s, as photography exploded in popularity, brothers John and Charles Watkins captured likeness of Henry Brittan Willis in intimate albumen silver print. just 10.2 x 6.3 cm, it exemplifies the *carte de visite*— small, affordable portrait format that revolutionized 19th-century image-sharing. These pocket-sized photos, often collected in albums like trading cards, brought celebrity and everyday faces into Victorian homes, fueling a craze for personal documentation. The Watkins brothers, leading London photographers, mastered the albumen process, coating paper with egg whites and silv...
About the Artist
John and Charles Watkins · 1840–1875
**John and Charles Watkins: Pioneers of Victorian Portrait Photography** John Watkins (1823–1874) and his younger brother Octavius Charles Watkins (1836–1882) were prominent British portrait photographers whose collaborative studio captured the luminaries of Victorian Britain.) Born in Raglan, Monmouthshire, Wales, John began his career around 1840, establishing a studio at 34 Parliament Street i...