Malay Woman on Java
1860s–70s
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
27.5 x 21.2 cm (10 13/16 x 8 3/6 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Matthew Dontzin, 1985
Accession Number
1985.1168.81
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vivid world of 19th-century photography with *Malay Woman on Java a captivating albumen silver print from a negative, created in the 1860s–70s. This 27.5 x 21.2 cm image, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Photographs department (gift of Matthew Dontzin 1985), likely portrays a Malay woman in Javapossibly posed with birds, evoking the island's rich natural and cultural tapestry. The composition draws viewers into everyday colonial-era life, blending human grace with avian elegance. Albumen prints, the gold standard of their time, used egg whites to bind light-sensitive ...
About the Artist
Unknown
The artist designated as "Unknown" in our virtual museum's collection exemplifies a poignant chapter in art history: creators whose identities have faded into obscurity despite the enduring power of their work. With only one known artwork attributed to them in our holdings, this figure represents countless anonymous hands that shaped visual culture across centuries. Museums worldwide, including th...