Roger Fenton

In this still-life, Roger Fenton emphasized tactile diversity, such as the shiny beads of the necklace, the smoothness of the embroidered Asian silk, the soft variety of the bouquet, and the hard carved marble of the funereal jewelry box. Sensorial and mysterious, he imbued it with a vanitas theme, aligned with his desire to claim photography as equal to or even surpassing painting.

The appointed photographer at the British Museum from 1854 to 1859, Fenton developed great skill photographing stationary objects of various sizes and materials. This image is part of a series of personal works he began in 1860 of objects arranged on marble or fabric.