Mohammed bel Arbi, aged 25, Algerian infantryman, born in Akerma (province of Oran), height 1.67 meters; black hair, shiny and very curly; black eyes; son of Kabyle mother and father (Mohammed bel Arbi (25 ans), Tirailleur Algérien, né à Akerma (province d’Oran), Taille 1 métre 67 centimétres, cheveux noirs, brilliants et très bouclés, yeux noirs, fils de père et mère Kabyles )
Artist
Jacques Philippe Potteau
(French, 1807 - 1876)
CultureFrench
Date1865
MediumAlbumen print from collodian negative
DimensionsOverall, Image: 6 1/4 × 4 3/4 in. (15.9 × 12.1 cm)
Overall, Support: 14 3/4 × 11 7/8 in. (37.5 × 30.2 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Overall, Frame (estimated): 25 1/4 × 21 1/4 × 1 1/4 in. (64.1 × 54 × 3.2 cm)
Overall, Support: 14 3/4 × 11 7/8 in. (37.5 × 30.2 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Overall, Frame (estimated): 25 1/4 × 21 1/4 × 1 1/4 in. (64.1 × 54 × 3.2 cm)
InscribedThe frontal view is captioned in ink on the mount: Mohamed bel Arbi (25 ans) Tirailleur Algérien / né à Akerma (province d'Oran). Taille 1 mètre 67 / centimètres, cheveux noirs, brillants et très bouclés, / yeux noirs ; fils de père et de mère Kabyles. / Phot. en 1865.
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number2020.8.3
Not on view
DescriptionOne of a pair of albumen prints that depict a man in two positions, frontally and in profile. Label TextJacques-Philippe Potteau French, 1807–1876 Mohammed bel Arbi, aged 25, Algerian infantryman, born in Akerma (province of Oran), height 1.67 meters; black hair, shiny and very curly; black eyes; son of Kabyle mother and father, 1865 Albumen prints from collodion negatives These views of a French soldier, dressed in the uniform of an Algerian “tirailleur,” or rifleman, resemble studio portraits but are in fact ethnographic studies. With his vital statistics inscribed on the mount, the Muslim recruit has removed his regulation turban to reveal his cranial structure and topknot. Daguerreotypes had entered the anthropological laboratory at Paris’s Museum of Natural History in the early 1840s. In the 1860s, Jacques-Phillippe Potteau began documenting Roma, North Africans, Africans, and Asians, as well as other visitors, like this soldier, who was garrisoned in Paris before shipping out to fight in Mexico. Museum purchases 2020.8.4 [left], 2020.8.3. [right] ProvenancePurchased from Serge Kakou, Paris, France, March 2020.Exhibition History"New Frames of Reference: Early French Photographers at Home and Abroad," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va, gallery 228, September 5, 2024 - February 16, 2025.
Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III)
1859
Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III)
1859
Charles-Nicholas Cochin the Younger
ca.1745