[Chicken Feathers]
Talbot's first successes were made by placing a pressed botanical specimen directly on a piece of photosensitized paper, covering it with a sheet of glass, and setting it in the sun. Wherever the light struck, the paper darkened; wherever the plant blocked the light it remained white. He called his new discovery "the art of photogenic drawing."
Nevil Story-Maskelyne, a teenager home from school during the summer of 1840, saw a demonstration of Talbot's process and tried his hand at the new art. This arrangement of chicken feathers is among his earliest pieces, and, as with Talbot's botanicals, the medium's capacity to record the soft texture of down, the detail of individual barbs, and the barred pattern of the feathers must have seemed an astonishing rendering of natural forms.
Nevil Story-Maskelyne, a teenager home from school during the summer of 1840, saw a demonstration of Talbot's process and tried his hand at the new art. This arrangement of chicken feathers is among his earliest pieces, and, as with Talbot's botanicals, the medium's capacity to record the soft texture of down, the detail of individual barbs, and the barred pattern of the feathers must have seemed an astonishing rendering of natural forms.
Artwork Details
- Title: [Chicken Feathers]
- Artist: Nevil Story Maskelyne (British, 1823–1911)
- Date: ca. 1840
- Medium: Salted paper print
- Dimensions: Image: 7 5/16 × 7 5/8 in. (18.6 × 19.3 cm), irregularly trimmed
- Classification: Negatives
- Credit Line: The Rubel Collection, Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace and Anonymous Gifts, 1997
- Object Number: 1997.382.5
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Nevil Story Maskelyne
mid-1850s
William Henry Fox Talbot
probably 1835
David Johnson
ca. 1855
Roger Fenton
1858
Joseph Cundall
ca. 1856
Related Content
Publications
Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.
Free to download
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.