Pedlar Showing Gingham Cloth to a Group of Countrywomen and Children
About this artwork
This work is evidently amateur photography. The negative plate has been badly coated and is blotched and smeared around the edges. The group of women is fairly static if a little self-conscious. The children on the bank above have moved during the exposure. However, Johnstone has used the subtle light from the side to capture the detail in the women's faces. Furthermore, through the repetition of the gingham patterns, the new cloth and the dresses, he has created a unified group.
Updated before 2020
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artist:
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title:Pedlar Showing Gingham Cloth to a Group of Countrywomen and Children
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date created:About 1852
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materials:Albumen print
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measurements:11.70 x 16.60 cm
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object type:
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accession number:PGP 36.1
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gallery:
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subject:
James Johnstone
James Johnstone
James Johnstone was the younger brother of the Royal Scottish academician, William Borthwick Johnstone, who was a landscape and a history painter. He himself was a lawyer, who eventually became clerk to Lord Benholm. He was an amateur photographer, but although he seemed never wholly in control of...