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NAPOLÉON SARONY (1821-1896) Portrait of Irish poet and playwrite Oscar Wilde (1854-1900).
Estimate:
$3,000 - $4,500
Sold
$4,600
Live Auction
LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History
Description
NAPOLÉON SARONY (1821-1896)

Portrait of Irish poet and playwrite Oscar Wilde (1854-1900).
Albumen print, the image measuring 149x102 mm; 5⅞x4 inches, the cabinet card mount 165x108 mm; 6½x4¼ inches, with Sarony's printed credit, date, copyright, address, and Wilde's credit on mount recto, and the sitter's name and additional notations in ink and a former owner's stamp on mount verso. 1882.

In this pose, one of twenty-nine known images captured by Sarony in 1882 and three in 1883, Wilde wears knee-breeches, silk stockings, and patent leather slippers to "be used in the drawing-room." The bows visible on the slippers were unconventional for the time.