William Swinden Barber (1832-1908)

Photographer: David Wilkie Wynfield (1837–1887)

ca. 1860s

Albumen print on mount with textured paper surface layer

208 mm x 163 mm

Collection: © Royal Academy of Arts, London (object no. 03/6186)

Photographer: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited

Reproduced with kind permission. [Right click disabled; not to be downloaded. See commentary below and mouse over the text for links.]

Wynfield as a Painter

Commentary by Dennis T. Lanigan

William Swinden Barber is portrayed in a striking historical costume decorated with pale flowers and wearing a dark headdress while contemplating a flower held in his left hand. Barber was a Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts architect who specialised in designing modest Anglican churches and doing renovation work. Barber lived in London between 1857 and at least 1863. He was a member of the 38th Middlesex corps of the Artists' Volunteer Rifles [Artists' Rifles] in the 1860s as was Wynfield so this is possibly how the two became acquainted. Barber later primarily practiced in Brighouse and Halifax in West Yorkshire. He became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1860 and a Fellow in 1873.

Bibliography

Hacking, Juliet. Princes of Victorian Bohemia. London: Prestel, 2000. 52-53.

"W. Swinden Barber, ca. 1860s." Royal Academy of London. Web. 14 December 2023.

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Created 14 December 2023