[William Edward Frost]
![[William Edward Frost] by John and Charles Watkins](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/william-edward-frost-685665.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
1970.659.324
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate albumen silver print from the 1860s captures the refined profile of William Edward Frost produced by the skilled British photographers John and Charles Watkins. just 10.2 x 6.3 cm (4 x 2½ in.), it exemplifies the carte de visite format—a small, card-mounted photograph that swept Victorian England and beyond, much like modern trading cards. These pocket-sized portraits allowed people to collect and exchange images of celebrities, family, and friends, fueling photography's rise as an accessible art form. The Watkins brothers, operating a prominent London studio, specialized in suc...
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...