The Tomb of Sir Walter Scott

Public Domain

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Artist William Henry Fox Talbot (British, 1800–1877)British, 1800–1877

CultureBritish

Titles

The Tomb of Sir Walter Scott

DateOctober 1844

PlaceEngland

MediumSalted paper print

DimensionsImage: 6 9/16 × 7 in. (16.7 × 17.8 cm)
Sheet: 7 5/16 × 8 13/16 in. (18.6 × 22.4 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Lynch Foundation, courtesy of Mrs. Efrem Kurtz in honor of David Warren

Object number94.615

Current Location

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building

Gallery 208

On view

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Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionThe polymath William Henry Fox Talbot was an early pioneer of photography who invented the paper negative process, which he patented in 1841 as the calotype. "The Tomb of Sir Walter Scott" was published in Talbot’s second photographically illustrated book, "Sun Pictures in Scotland." The book drew inspiration from the life and career of the Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott, whose tomb seemed perfectly suited to a romantic photographic expression. Embedded in the shadows of a Gothic ruin, the tomb is nestled among the trees that grow where the transept columns once rose.
Provenance[Robert Miller Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1994.
Exhibition HistoryExhibited: "A Love Affair with Pictures: 25 Years of Collecting Photographs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," MFAH, Lower Jones and Masterson Galleries, October 14 - December 30, 2001.

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed in ink on sheet verso: LA37

The photograph is not signed.

Catalogue raisonnéSC2801

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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