Victorian photographers
These pages are the result of a little bit of research we started having come across this small image, shown here approximately full size, which was advertised as being that of a young GWR employee. The young man is not named, the photograph is not dated, and the details in the image (cap badge and buttons) are not clear enough to show that the uniform is definitely that of a GWR employee. However, we think it is possible, and as the studio responsible is shown on the back as being based in Abingdon we felt it worthy of adding to our collection.
Our research revealed that there were many photographers operating in Abingdon, Oxford, and the surrounding area during Victorian times. The one who took this photograph became very famous as a highly regarded portait artist, so our interest was piqued. All of the photographers we describe produced CDV prints and most also produced cabinet size prints. Some also produced and sold picture postcards in the later years. There were other publishers of postcards based in Abingdon and Oxford over the years, but they are outside the scope of these pages.
All images shown on these pages are taken from our collection unless attributed otherwise.
Cartes de Visite
Our small photographic print, seen here about full size, is mounted on a card backing in a format known as a carte-de-visite, or CDV, which is French for visiting card. During Victorian times, great use was made of small printed cards to serve as a means of introduction. Louis Dodero, a photographer from Marseilles, is credited with producing the first photographic calling card in 1851. This took the form of a miniature photograph glued onto a card backing.
At the time most professional portrait photographers took either daguerreotypes or collodion positives. With both processes, each picture was unique and multiple copies could only be made with difficulty, if at all. The Parisian photographer, André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, came up with the idea of reducing costs by taking multiple portraits on a single 8" x 10" photographic plate. Several different types of camera were developed to enable this. Some had several lenses which could be uncovered either individually, or all at the same time, to give 4 or 8 photographs on the same plate. Others had a mechanism for moving the photographic plate so that each image was recorded on a different area. He patented his idea in 1854.
Cartes de visite were introduced to England in 1857, and in May 1860, J.E. Mayall took a series of CDV portraits of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children. These were published in an album later that year and the popularity of such portrait cards soared. Taken from our collection, this image of Princess Beatrice carries the inscription 'Mayall July, 1st, 1860' and may well be one of that series of portraits as it is definitively dated. Sadly, the card has been trimmed at the top. The second card in our collection shows Prince Albert sitting at a table as if writing a letter. This card looks to have been produced later than the 1860 series, but the image cannot date from after 1861. All such CDVs we have seen carry the same simple branding of Photographed from Life by MAYALL, 224, Regent Street, LONDON. Those aimed squarely at the mass market also bore Published (wholesale only) by Messrs A.Marion, Son & Co. 23, Soho Square.
~~~~~~ ooooooOOOoooooo ~~~~~~ Originally named Jabez Meal, John Jabez Edwin Mayall was born in Oldham in 1813. He moved with his parents to Philadelphia where he became a chemistry lecturer and where, in 1840, he opened a daguerreotype studio. He crossed the Atlantic again in 1846 and opened the American Daguerreotype Institution in London the following year. In 1851/2 he opened a second studio at 224 Regent Street, selling the American Daguerreotype Institution a couple of years later. Mayall soon became one of the most successful photographers in London and was first invited to photograph the royal family in 1855. In 1860 Mayall published his carte-de-visite album of the Royal Family with tens of thousands of copies being sold. In 1863, Mayall settled with his wife in Brighton, where he opened another photography studio. Their sons, Joseph, Edwin and John all followed their father into photography and between them the Mayalls operated a number of studios in London, Brighton and, for a short time, in Melbourne, Australia. John Mayall worked in Brighton with his father, while Edwin took over the London studio.
This rather ornate back from a Mayall CDV advertises both a studio in London and one in Brighton. At the bottom left it says 'ESTABLISHED 1840' which predated the London studio by over a decade as this was when the daguerreotype studio first opened in Philadelphia. The National Portrait Gallery in London holds more than 500 photographs attributed to members of the Mayall family. ~~~~~~ ooooooOOOoooooo ~~~~~~
The popularity of CDVs, and the growing general interest in photography led to the establishment of photographic studios across the country. All CDVs followed a pretty standard format of an albumen image printed on thin paper about 2⅜"-2¼" x 3⅝"-3¾" mounted onto a card about 2½" x 4". The studio or photographer's name and address would be printed on the back of the card, with some backs being very ornate. The name of the studio or photographer was often also printed on the front below the image. As their popularity grew, cards began to be produced showing places or events of interest for general sale, much like the more modern postcards. CDVs remained very popular from the 1860s up until the early 1900s with people collecting portraits of their family, friends and celebrities, often mounting them in albums.
Whilst the size of the card mount would remain unchanged its thickness did vary. Generally, the thinner the mount, the earlier the photograph. The shape of the cardboard mount also changed over time with early examples usually having square corners, those with rounded corners started to appear during the 1870s.
Cabinet photographs
Whilst CDVs were popular they were limited in size and therefore the detail which could be recorded. As photographic methods improved a slightly larger format began to gain in popularity. These were known as cabinet photographs and were essentially a larger version of CDVs. First introduced in 1863 by Windsor & Bridge in London, the cabinet card is an albumen photographic print of about 4" x 5½" mounted on 4¼" x 6½" card stock. As with CDVs, the studio or photographer's name and address would be printed on the back of the card and often repeated below the image on the front. We have seen examples of cabinet photographs produced from several of the Abingdon studios. This format was particularly popular for family portraits and such cards would often be displayed rather than being kept in an album. Popularity of these and CDVs waned in the early 1900s as the introduction of folding and box cameras meant that the average person could take their own photographs instead of going to a studio.
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