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Linnaeus Tripe

Tanjore, Great Pagoda, Great Bull as Viewed on Passing through the Last Gopurum, 1860

Description

Maker

  • Linnaeus Tripe, 1822-1902, English

Title

Tanjore, Great Pagoda, Great Bull as Viewed on Passing through the Last Gopurum

Year

1860

Medium

Albumen print from waxed paper negative

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • albumen,
  • waxed paper

Dimensions

Image: 29.1 x 36.7 cm (11 7/16 x 14 7/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Tripe's monogram included in blind stamp below photo, LC.Blind stamp below photo at center, indicating that Tripe was a photographer to Government; probably indicating number in series (of at least 23) printed outside photo, URC:10

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Photographs

Credit

Mary B. Jackson Fund

Object Number

77.024

Projects & Publications

Publications

Selected Works

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Early Exposures

March 13 - July 19, 2015

The official photographer to the Madras government, Linnaeus Tripe documented much of south India. This photograph shows Nandi, sacred animal of the Hindu god Shiva, at the entrance to the Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur. Because of the bull’s affiliation with fertility, it has been visited and anointed by pilgrims for hundreds of years, and Tripe’s record emphasizes the smooth surface of the stone.

Tripe’s interest in photography’s descriptive and expressive possibilities is evident in this composition, which carefully considers the sightline while capturing the pattern of rich darks and lights made by the structure, the trees, and the shadows.

The photographic boom at the end of the 19th century reached the masses chiefly by way of portraiture. Case photography—unique photographs whose fragile surfaces were enclosed in velvet, metal, and glass within leather, rubber, or plastic cases—was the first type of portraiture most families owned.

Technological competition, including the drive to make photography more affordable to both makers and buyers, led to the invention of the succession of processes represented here.

Please note that dates refer to major use of the processes in the 19th century. Many of these processes were used by photographers well into the 20th century and are still employed today.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Tanjore, Great Pagoda, Great Bull as Viewed on Passing through the Last Gopurum with the accession number of 77.024. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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