Henry Thoby Prinsep, by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79)

Henry Thoby Prinsep

Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79)

1866

Albumen print, arched top

14 3/4 in. x 11 1/4 in. (375 mm x 285 mm)

Given by Cordelia Curle, 1959

Julia Cameron's sister Sara (1816-87) married Henry Thoby Prinsep (1792-1878), in 1835. A very senior Civil Servant in Calcutta, he was much older than she was. The family returned to England before the Camerons, in 1843, and leased Little Holland House in Kensington from Lord Holland, with whom they shared a mutual friend – the artist G. F. Watts. [Commentary continues below; click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery

In Kensington as in Calcutta, the Prinseps gathered a clutch of talented and artistic people around them, a bohemian set that included not only G. F. Watts but also Edward Burne-Jones and members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and is often seen as a precursor of the Bloomsbury Group (e.g. see Ford's biography, 26). In fact, there was a strong connection: the two sisters' niece, also called Julia, was often there, and she would become the second wife of Leslie Stephen, and the mother of Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf and their brothers. One of the Prinseps' own sons, Valentine Prinsep, would become a well-known artist. As for Thoby, as he liked to be known, he was briefly involved in British politics, and continued to be active in Indian affairs and write on Indian matters. With his flowing beard he made a perfect subject for his sister-in-law's camera on several occasions. — Jacqueline Banerjee

Sources

Ford, Colin. "Geniuses, Poets, and Painters: The World of Julia Margaret Cameron." In Julia Margaret Cameron: the Complete Photographs. By Julian Cox and Colin Ford, with contributions by Joanne Lukitsh and Philippa Wright. Los Angeles: Getty Publications / Christopher Hudson, 2003. 11-39.

_____. Julia Margaret Cameron: A Critical Biography. London: National Portrait Gallery, 2003.

Roberts, Pam. "Julia Margaret Cameron: A Triumph over Criticism." In The Portrait in Photography. Ed. Graham Clarke. London: Reaktion Books, 1992. 47-70.

Wilson, A. N. "Julia Margaret Cameron." In Eminent Victorians. London: BBC Books, 1989. 203-36.

Last modified 3 March 2015