[John Pettie]
![[John Pettie] by John and Charles Watkins](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/john-pettie-685976.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
1970.659.637
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate albumen silver print captures Scottish painter John Pettie in the 1860s, created by the renowned London photographers John and Charles Watkins. Measuring just 10.2 x 6.3 cm, it exemplifies the carte-de-visite format—a, affordable photograph that exploded in popularity during the Victorian, much like modern trading cards. These pocket-sized portraits allowed people to collect images of celebrities, royalty, and artists, fostering a new visual culture of fame. The Watkins brothers, known for their crisp studio portraits of notable figures, employed the albumen silver process, whic...
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...