Mary Dillwyn
1850s (ca)
Detail of Sketty Hall [Wales]

Salt print, detail
Private collection of Jack and Beverly Wilgus
This detail from a larger salt print shows two print frames being exposed by sunlight.
 
This small salt print becomes much more interesting when you read the hand lettered caption under it. "Sketty Hall" and "MD" is written in the line around the oval sepia image.
 
Sketty Hall was the family home of the Dillwyn family. Mary Dillwyn was the sister of John Dillwyn Llewelyn. The family was related by marriage to a cousin of William Henry Fox Talbot and were early practitioners of the photography process.
 
The detail that makes this little image even more special is seen in a close up I have posted. Next to the door are two print frames that have been placed out in the sun to print on photogenic drawing paper. Another, more faded, print, of the same negative on the National Library of Wales flickr page identifies it as a salt print taken from a collodion negative.
 
(Information courtesy of Jack and Beverly Wilgus, http://www.flickr.com/photos/20939975@N04/4918353360/)
 
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