[Henry Tanworth Wells]
![[Henry Tanworth Wells] by John and Charles Watkins](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/henry-tanworth-wells-686153.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
1970.659.814
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the 1860s, as photography exploded in popularity across Victorian Britain, brothers John and Charles Watkins captured intimate profile portrait of Henry Tan Wells in an albumen silver print pioneering wet-collodion process that coated paper with egg whites for sharp detail and rich, warm tones. Measuring just 10.2 x 6.3 cm, this diminutive carte de visite format was all the rage, allowing middle-class collectors to trade pocket-sized images of celebrities, artists, and royals like trading cards. The Watkins studio, renowned London photographers who even served Queen Victoria, excelled at su...
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...