[Joseph Nash]
![[Joseph Nash] by John and Charles Watkins](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/joseph-nash-685946.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
1970.659.607
Tags
Art Historical Context
This albumen silver print portrait of Joseph Nash, captured by the London-based brothers John and Charles Watkins in the 1860s, offers a glimpse into the early days of commercial photography. Measuring just 4 by 2½ inches, the small scale reflects the era’s popular carte-de-visite format, which allowed people to exchange photographic likenesses much like visiting cards. The Watkins studio specialized in crisp studio portraits of notable individuals, employing the albumen process that used egg-white binders to produce rich detail and warm tonal qualities on paper. As one of the first widely ac...
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...