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History of Science Museum

Photograph (Salted Paper Print) of Busts of Three Scottish Engineers, 1840s

Inventory Number 21431


Acknowledgement: © History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, inv.21431

Item type
Object
Provenance
Presented by the Executors of G. H. Gabb in 1949.
Primary inscriptions
Inscribed on back: 'Murdoch | Inventor of Gas' (pencil overwritten in ink). Inscribed in pencil on front (on pedestal): 'Murdoch'.
Other inscriptions
SEE NOTE
Physical material
Paper
Dimensions
Height: 150mm Width: 178mm
Inventory No
21431
Accession Number
1949-10

Description

Calotype (salted paper print from a calotype negative) of busts of three Scottish engineers: (left to right) John Rennie, James Watt, and William Murdock (formerly spelled Murdoch), presumably by a Scottish photographer, but very much in the style of W. H. Fox Talbot. They are the busts (or copies of them) by Sir Francis Chantrey, the most recent that of Murdock, made in 1840. Horizontal format. Pale sepia, some speckling, pink stain. The inscriptions, including Murdock's name written on the image, appear to be of more recent date.

For fuller descriptive and historical commentary see narratives.