Portrait of Oscar Wilde, circa 1870

Summary

Around 1870, before he became a well-known writer, Oscar Wilde posed for this carte-de-visite. The carte-de-visite was a small photographic print on cardboard stock made by professional photographers. People exchanged and collected portrait cartes-de-visite, popular in the United States from the Civil War in the 1860s through the 1880s, to help them remember family and celebrities.

Around 1870, before he became a well-known writer, Oscar Wilde posed for this carte-de-visite. The carte-de-visite was a small photographic print on cardboard stock made by professional photographers. People exchanged and collected portrait cartes-de-visite, popular in the United States from the Civil War in the 1860s through the 1880s, to help them remember family and celebrities.

Artifact

Carte-de-visite (Card photograph)

Subject Date

circa 1870

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

2012.0.5.17

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford

Material

Cardboard
Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Albumen process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 4.125 in

Width: 2.5 in

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