John Dillwyn Llewellyn

John Dillwyn Talbot Llewelyn (1810-1882) UNTITLED (STUFFED FOX) c.1850, salted paper print, 15.5 x 20.6cm John Dillwyn Talbot Llewelyn was the son of LW Llewelyn, a wealthy Welsh industrialist and distinguished botanist. He married Emma Thomasina Talbot, who was a first cousin of William Henry Fox Talbot. Emma was similarly enthusiastic about photography and processed all her husband's prints. Llewelyn developed a keen interest in the new art form of photography from its earliest days and experimented alongside Antoine Claudette, the inventor of the daguerreotype process that employed a metal plate coated with light sensitive chemicals. In 1856, John Dillwyn Llewelyn developed the 'Oxymel' process. This stabilised photographic images on 'dry' plates and utilised a solution derived from a mixture of honey and vinegar. This was the breakthrough which made the holy grail of 'instantaneous' photography a reality - it meant that photographs could be taken outdoors and away from the laboratory for the first time. Llewelyn became a pioneering landscape photographer and chronicled family life at his picturesque estate in Penllergaer, Swansea. Fox Talbot considered Llewelyn to be the first botanic photographer and he later became a founder member of the Royal Photographic Society. Request Further Information

JOHN DILLWYN LLEWELYN (1810-1882) AND NEVIL STORY MASKELYNE (1823-1911) Maskelyne family scrap album Album of 49 photographs. Circa 1850s-1930s. Various processes including salt prints from paper and glass negatives, albumen and gelatin silver prints, and a quantity of watercolours and drawings. Varying sizes from carte-de-visite to 11½ x 9½in. (29.3 x 24 cm.) The majority initialled and titled on the mount, including NSM (3) and JDLL (6). Occasional hand-painted borders with floral designs. Ink manuscript note describing provenance and listing family members, their identifying initials and relationship to Margaret Story Maskelyne, the owner of the album, on the front free endpaper. Green half leather, gilt. With 6 other photographs, loosely inserted, including an albumen print view of Melbury by Llewelyn and a later print from an 1858 negative of the moon, probably by Nevil Story Maskelyne. Album size: 15¾ x 11½in. (40.2 x 29.2cm.) (7) Provenance Agnes Story Maskelyne, sister of Nevil Story Maskelyne; her niece, Margaret Story Maskelyne; by descent to the present owners. Lot Notes A personal album begun by Nevil Story Maskelyne's sister Agnes and continued by his daughter, Margaret. Among several portraits of family members is one of John Dillwyn Llewelyn using a microscope and another of Nevil Story Maskelyne, possibly both self-portraits. Other subjects include the Maskelyne home at Basset Down, Salisbury Cathedral from the river, Purley Hall, Penpont house, Brecon, a few art reproductions, views in Norway including one by Henry Rosling and an Alpine scene by S. Armero. Subjects specifically identified as the work of Maskelyne are three large views titled Charlton, Wilts., Charlton Lord Suffolk's family and The Beech, Basset Down. Those identified as by Llewelyn are a tree study at Penllergare, Penllergare Haymakers, Penllergare (view of the house), The Upper Lake, Penllergare, Study of Ferns and Penllergare School Girls. The watercolours, by various family members, include flower and tree studies, landscapes and beach scenes.

John Dillwyn Llewelyn (1810-1882), albumen print , The Upper Fall, Penllargare, Wales, c. 1852, framed and glazed.

13. John Dillwyn Llewellyn (1810-1882) Orchids Penllergare, ca. 1860 Vintagealbumen print, titled in unknown hand in pencil verso, 29.2 x 24 cm (11 1/2 x 9 1/2in.)