[Thomas Faed]
![[Thomas Faed] by John and Charles Watkins](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/thomas-faed-685614.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
1970.659.273
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate carte-de-visite captures Thomas Faed, a renowned painter of the Victorian era known for his evocative genre scenes depicting everyday life rural Scotland. Photographed the esteemed London studio of brothers John and Charles in the 1860s, the image exemplifies the booming popularity of photography during this period. At just 10.2 6.3 cm4 x 2½ in.), it was designed as a collectible calling card, affordable exchangeable among the middle and upper classesThe medium, albumen print, was the gold standard 19th-century photography. Egg whites coated paper to hold light-sensitive silver s...
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...