[John Ballantyne]
![[John Ballantyne] by John and Charles Watkins](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/john-ballantyne-685360.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
1970.659.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
This albumen silver print from the 1860s captures John Ballantyne in a formal studio portrait, created by the British photographic firm of John and Charles Watkins. Measuring roughly the size of a modern trading card, the image exemplifies the carte-de-visite format that became enormously popular during the Victorian era. Such small, affordable portraits allowed middle-class sitters to exchange likenesses with friends and family, transforming photography from an elite curiosity into a widespread social practice. The Watkins brothers specialized in crisp, well-lit studio portraits that emphasi...
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...