Victorian Photographers - Gentlemen in Chairs

It was a question that required some thought.
How would you like to be remembered?

Once upon a time, having a portrait photograph made
was an important milestone in one's life.
It was a record of a moment
but it was also a memento of achievement. 

In preparing for the camera,
besides one's favorite suit
and a proper shave by your barber,
what else could you do to look your best?

Perhaps use some props
to convey distinction and gentility.
A few books at hand always added
a serious enlightened quality to a portrait.

For some men a book was considered unnecessary.
It was their distinguished visage
and earnest expression that said it all.
Even while seated relaxed at a desk
their face could not conceal
an upstanding self-confidence. 

For others, posing for a photograph was easy
if you understood how a camera worked.
It was as simple as looking at a mirror
and liking what you saw.

Yet a few men felt

it was important for posterity
to include symbols of their life
in this new medium of a photograph. 

As the great bard would say,

                                                        All the world’s a stage,

                                                        And all the men and women merely players;

                                                        They have their exits and their entrances;

                                                        And one man in his time plays many parts...

'As You Like It' (1599) act 2, sc. 7, l. 139

Today I present five Victorian gentlemen
who once posed for a photographer
and left behind a small carte de visite photo
of the occasion for me to find
and for others to admire.

My first gentleman is a man about age 50-60 seated in a carved wooden armchair which has a seat and back upholstered in fine fabric. He looks direct into the camera lens as he rests one hand on some small books placed on an ornately carved/turned pedestal side table. The books are about the same size as a modern paperback and I believe they are likely works of fiction rather than scholarly or theological tomes.

The photograph was produced by the Theweneti brothers' studio of Bath, a historic city in Somerset, England, that is famous for and named after its Roman-built baths which were built around its natural hot springs. Beginning in the Stuart period and later Georgian era it became a popular destination for people seeking a restorative health treatment from its waters. In the 1860s many photographers set up studios in Bath to cater to its many visitors. This cdv has no name or date, but the simple small type of the photographer and the square corners dates it to the 1860s.

The carte de visite, 'visiting card' or cdv, was first developed in 1854 by French photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri. A cdv image was an albumen print made from a collodion negative on thin paper that was glued onto thicker paper cardstock the same size as a formal visiting card, about 4½ x 2½ inches (11.4 x 6.3 cm). Because the photographic process was reproducible, a photographer could easily print any number of copies for a very inexpensive price. These two factors led to the cdv becoming a very popular portrait medium in the 1860s-70s.  

* * *

My second gentleman also sits, but this time at a desk. He is also in his late 50s or 60s and wears a long frock coat that, I think, gives him the air of a businessman. He has a thoughtful gaze away from the camera as he holds an open book, maybe with pen in hand. The desk is an ingenious compact writing desk called a davenport or sea captain's desk that, supposedly, originates from a design first made in the 1790s for a Captain Davenport by Gillows of Lancaster. A davenport features a sloped, leather-lined top, that lifts to reveal a compartment for stationary. One side has a set of drawers and there are often hidden secret drawers, or a brass or wood gallery for storing letters. 

The photographer was J. W. Clarke of 1 Wool Hall Street, opposite West door of Corn Exchange, in Bury St. Edmunds, a cathedral and market town in the county of Suffolk, England. This cdv is signed and dated by its subject, but the handwriting style is challenging to decipher. I think it reads:

Julian Hale Sawyer

1870 

* * *

My third gentleman also sits at a davenport but without extra props. His silver grey hair definitely put him in his late 60s or 70s. Like all of the examples I present here, I have no knowledge of his background other than the photographer's name and location. But as this cdv was made by Rae Photo of Dumfries, Scotland I presume he is Scottish. 

The back of the cdv has an imprint of a stag over Rae, Photographer, Dumfries, (duplicates may be had). The more detailed style of imprint dates the photo to the late 1860s or early 1870s. Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh situated in the western part of Scotland's Southern Uplands, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth. The celebrated Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns (1758–1796) lived in Dumfries during the last years of his life. 

* * *

My next gentleman sits cross-legged in a relaxed manner like the man from Dumfries but he has a most engaging face looking straight into the camera lens, almost with a smile. He looks to be in his 30s though his pate is bare, but he sports a neatly trimmed beard strap without mustache or chin whiskers. I've seen this hairstyle on photos of clerics, but this man is dressed in a regular suit with an ordinary collar and black bowtie. Yet I think his choice of a neck-beard is an indication of some special career, perhaps in medicine or academia. To one side is another davenport desk, a fashionable studio furnishing seen in many cdv photographs from this era.

The photographer was John Bull of Melcombe Villa in Weymouth, a seaside town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It is situated on a sheltered bay by the English Channel at the mouth of the River Wey. During the Georgian era, Weymouth was a popular place for Britain's upper class to take summer holidays, but after a railway line was built in 1857 connecting it to London it boosted trade and tourism attracting many more visitors. I suspect this photograph was taken in the late 1860s. 

* * *

My final gentleman is seated at an ornate pedestal table while holding some letters or papers. On the table is a large bust of William Shakespeare. His gaze is just slightly to the left of the camera. He appears a mature man of age 50+ with grey hair and a kind of hybrid mustache, side chops, and chin beard. Unlike the other photographers' studio sets which had mostly empty backwalls for good light contrast, this studio has a wall painted with a dramatic mountainous landscape that includes a castle. It's a more rugged scene than anywhere in British Isles, I think.  

After a search of the internet, I think the bust of Shakespeare is a bronze casting made by the F. Barbedienne Foundry in Paris following a design by the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828). It is described as dating from the 1870s which I think fits with this cdv's qualities. The studio was that of the Southwell brothers, Photographers Royal, at 16 & 22 Baker Street in London. The word "Royal" meant that the Southwell brothers' studio held an official Royal Warrant, indicating they were authorized to photograph Queen Victoria or members of the Royal Household.    

This is the first story of what will be a series exploring carte de visite photos. Unlike my usual stories about photos of musicians and musical groups, the subjects of this series are ordinary people without any obvious connections to music. Instead I'd like to present examples of photo portraits taken in the first decades of the photographic age.  

A few months ago I acquired several carte de visite photos of celebrated European musicians and composers which I hope to feature in some future stories. But in the process I came across one British dealer who offered thousands of portrait photos, all cdvs, roughly from the 1860s to the 1880s. Most of these photos had superb clarity and included men, women, children, and couples from Britain and France. The photos were also listed at amazingly cheap prices. So with a few clicks of the mouse button I bought them and in the process created a new album for my collection. 

The subjects are mostly unknown, but the photographers' names place them in a large variety of locations that shows how quickly the cdv medium spread. I've come to think about this collection as like a crowded Victorian railway station filled with anonymous people going every which way. We see an interesting face and wonder. What does that person do? How old are they? Where are they from? Why are they dressed that way?

As the great bard said,

                                                    All the world’s a stage,

                                                    And all the men and women merely players;

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where a television once had only three channels

and the evening news was really news.