Upper Lake, Penllengare; Rhododendrons; Brome, Morphine Tuff
Medium
Albumen silver print; salted paper print
Dimensions
Image: 13.4 × 16.5 cm (5 1/4 × 6 1/2 in.) (a) Image: 7.4 × 6 cm (2 15/16 × 2 3/8 in.) (b) Image: 7.2 × 5.8 cm (2 13/16 × 2 5/16 in.) (c)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.382 (74a–c)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intriguing composite work from 1853–56 brings together three intimate photographs of Penllergare, the Welsh estate of John Dillwyn Llewelyn. Created using early albumen silver and salted paper processes, the prints capture the Upper Lake, lush rhododendron plantings, and garden details with remarkable softness and tonal depth. Llewelyn, a pioneering Welsh photographer and botanist, often collaborated with contemporaries like James Knight to document his celebrated gardens, where he cultivated exotic species and experimented with photographic chemistry. These images reflect the mid-ninete...