Composite Photographs: Tuberculosis Patients, Criminals, Family Likeness, Classical Figures and Crania

item

Galleries and Reading Room

Café

Shop

Library

Our galleries are quietest on weekdays and weekend mornings. At busy times, particularly on Saturdays, you may need to queue for our temporary exhibitions.

We’re undertaking some research with website visitors to learn more about how people find access-related information provided by museums. This survey shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

Help us organize our website content.

Small individual portrait photographs and composite photographs, mounted on large boards. Primarily photographs of "phthisis" [tuberculosis] patients, male and female, from Guy's Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospital and Victoria Park Hospital [the London Chest Hospital]. Galton appears to have divided the photographs into various "types" based on facial features and the patients' tuberculosis symptoms to produce an "average" face.
 
Also includes a set of photographs of children to demonstrate family likeness, and composites of Napoleon, Roman women, Alexander the Great and criminals.
 
 
Originally listed as the following (note that this list has now been revised and is no longer in use):
1. Plate nos. I to II. Male and female faces; phthisis and syphilis sufferers (2 negatives).
2. Plate nos. III to IV. Males faces; different face shapes (negatives).
3. Composite family likenesses. Feb 1882. Male, female and epicene. 
4. Broad faces with thick and heavy features, strumous type. Provisional results. Male and female (2 negatives).
5. Male narrow ovoid faces. Revised. "Tubercular" type" (2 negatives).
6. Imperfect and incomplete male results. The average healthy male face. Royal Engineer officers and privates (three cut out). The average male face with phthisis (negatives).
7. Narrow ovids with regular and well cut features. "Tubercular" type". Provisional result. all male.
8-10. Three plates of male faces, unlabelled. Negative of 10.
11. Composites of only two components. Female, including statue and portrait.
12. Narrow ovids with regular features. "Tubercular" type". Narrow ovids of a lower type. All female (negatives)
13. Broad faces. Heavy lower jaws, coarse features. Strumous type. All female.
14-16. Three plates of female faces, unlabelled.
17. Composite of eight crania. 'Brit. Ass. Report' p. 690, York, 1881 (negatives)
18. Composites of Alexander the Great and criminals
19. Composites of Napoleon and Roman ladies.
20. Average female face with/without phthisis

Wellcome uses cookies.

Composite Photographs: Tuberculosis Patients, Criminals, Family Likeness, Classical Figures and Crania

Licence and re-use