Partridges (recto)

About the Artwork

N. Baily carefully arranged a simple composition of two partridges hanging by a thin rope against a plain wood wall. Like many photographers in the 1850s and '60s, he was interested in displaying the camera’s ability to record in detail the variety of shapes and textures present in the still life. Little is known of Baily, a British amateur photographer. He was a member of the Amateur Photographic Association and participated in several of their album exchanges. Still lifes incorporating game, fowl, and fish were popular among amateur photographers during this period. Many members of the Amateur Photographic Association were gentlemen that formerly belonged to the British armed forces and would have participated in hunting as a pastime.

Inscriptions

Written in ink on pasted paper on recto: "Partridges/W. Baily, Esq." (writing on back of pasted label)

Exhibition history

Trophies of the Hunt: Capturing Nature as Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 3, 2004).

Quick Overview

Artist: Captain N. Baily (British)
Date: c. 1861
Medium: albumen print from wet collodion negative
Dimensions: Image: 23.9 x 19.3 cm (9 7/16 x 7 5/8 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession no.: 1987.21.a

Provenance

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s open-access data does not include an ownership history for this work. See the museum’s page for this work.

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.