Sir John Fowler, 1st Bt

Sitterback to top

• Sir John Fowler, 1st Bt (1817-1898), Civil engineer. Sitter in 7 portraits.

Artistback to top

• John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901), Photographer. Artist associated with 478 portraits.

This portraitback to top

As a civil engineer Fowler devoted his life to the railways, and he is particularly known for his Pimlico bridge, the first railway bridge across the Thames in London, the development of the Metropolitan Railway system and (with Sir Benjamin Baker) the Forth railway bridge, probably the most remarkable piece of engineering to be carried out in the nineteenth century, and one which earned Fowler his baronetcy. For this large photograph, which was probably taken after the opening of the Metropolitan Railway in January 1863, Baker sat to Mayall, the leading London portrait photographer. The portrait combines a somewhat incongruous studio backdrop of a village scene with the parapet of a bridge and a length of railway track, emblems of Fowler's profession. The portrait is hand-coloured, an 'extra' offered by many of the commercial firms, and housed in an elaborate gilt frame in emulation of the large-format miniature paintings favoured by the Victorians.

Linked publicationsback to top

• Rogers, Malcolm, Camera Portraits, 1989 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 20 October 1989 - 21 January 1990), p. 81
• Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 226

Subject/Themeback to top

• Bridges