Photograph (Experimental Photogenic Drawing), by Sir John Herschel, February 16, 1839 | |||||||||||
Inventory Number: | 33336 | ||||||||||
Object Type: | | ||||||||||
Persons: |
Sir John Frederick William Herschel (Photographer) | ||||||||||
Date Created: | 1839 | ||||||||||
Accession Number: | 1928-71 | ||||||||||
Brief Description: | Experimental photogenic drawing by Sir John Herschel, February 16, 1839, made as a potassium ferrocyanide fixing experiment during the earliest phase of his photographic researches. No image is visible except for evidence of a darker border (indicating that it was a contact copy of an engraving), and the paper is divided into a yellow half and a pale bluish merging to pale yellow half, representing a deliberate experimental division. The line of division is distinct and caused by brushing, with brush strokes leading away from it. Subject: engraving, no visible image, slight evidence of darker border Technique: contact copy Format: inscription horizontal Polarity: negative Orientation: not apparent Quality: no visible image Colour: yellow and greenish right, pale blue-grey to pale yellow left, similar but less greenish and no brush marks on back Chemistry: silver based, fixed with potassium ferrocyanide Coating: none Inscription: signature, date, chemical note Paper: normal Condition: good Purpose: a potassium ferrocyanide fixing experiment, with deliberate division into to halves (see above). For fuller descriptive and historical commentary see narratives. | ||||||||||
Primary Inscriptions: | 'J.F.W.H. Photogr. Feb. 16/39. F.P.' [ferrocyanate of potash; in Herschel's hand]. | ||||||||||
Provenance: | Presented by Miss Herschel and Lady Lubbock in 1928. They were the two surviving and youngest children of Sir John Herschel (Francisca and Constance). | ||||||||||
Collection Group: | Herschel's Photographic Experiments | ||||||||||
Material(s): |
Paper | ||||||||||
Dimensions: |
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Narratives | |||||||||||
Permalink: http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/object/inv/33336