This unusual marble bath was installed by Linley and doubled up as a place to develop his photographs. A wooden shelf was added to the side for mixing the chemical developing solutions, and the bath itself was used to rinse the photographic prints once they had developed. Sambourne first began to use photography as an aid for his cartoons in 1883, dressing up and posing his family and servants in the backyard to create the basis of that week’s design. By the time he died in 1910 he had created a vast collection of over 30,000 images which remain in the museum’s archive.
Late 19th century
Marble, wood
Image and text © The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London.
Where you'll find this
Sambourne House
Permanent collection