Torn & Folded Scrap of Crape, 1852-57

This strikingly modern image was a result of Talbot's experiments with tonalities. He observed that a scrap of cloth, similar to a piece of lace, was an ideal subject matter for its detail, but it was the effect of obliquely superimposing the crape or gauze -- here achieved by folding over the cloth -- which fascinated him. When the engraving is viewed up close, the layered area reveals a more complex pattern; when viewed from a moderate distance, however, it appears as an uniform tone. Talbot applied this concept of a photographic veil to his engravings of botanical specimens as seen in the leaf image offered in the following lot.