Portrait of a young woman. Alexander Bassano, photographer (British, born Italy, 1829 - 1913) about 1870–1881 This photograph sits in an album that intermixes pages of cartes-de-visite with full-page photocollages. Victorian collagists took their photographic materials primarily from cartes-de-visite. Patented by André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, the carte-de-visite was easily and inexpensively printed (). By the 1860s, _cartomania _ had taken hold. It became customary to exchange cartes-de-visite on social calls. These small studio portraits measure 3 ½ x 2 1/8 inches, abou

Portrait of a young woman. Alexander Bassano, photographer (British, born Italy, 1829 - 1913) about 1870–1881 This photograph sits in an album that intermixes pages of cartes-de-visite with full-page photocollages. Victorian collagists took their photographic materials primarily from cartes-de-visite. Patented by André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, the carte-de-visite was easily and inexpensively printed (). By the 1860s, _cartomania _ had taken hold. It became customary to exchange cartes-de-visite on social calls. These small studio portraits measure 3 ½ x 2 1/8 inches, about the size of a playing card. It is not known whether they removed the photographs from the thick cardstock on which they had been mounted or obtained unmounted prints from the photographer. People also collected cards of the royal family, actors, and politicians (see for example, the image of Princess Christina of the United Kingdom found in this album). A woman’s collection of cartes-de-visite visually displayed her social circle and favorite celebrities The cartes-de-visite could be inserted in specially manufactured album pages that came with slots. These display pages might include painted ornamentation, as in this one from The Westmorland Album. Carolyn Peter, J. Paul Getty Museum, Department of Photographs 2021 For more information about this album see the extended essay. (Recto, mount) lower left, black imprinted text: "BASSANO"; lower right, black imprinted text: "72, PICCADILLY"; (Verso, mount) center, brown maker's imprint: "PHOTOGRAPHED BY/ALEXANDER BASSANO/72 PICCADILLY/LONDON"; lower center, brown imprinted text: "COPIES OF THIS PHOTOGRAPH MAY/ALWAYS BE OBTAINED";

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