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Burns

Robert Burns

Jean Armour Burns Brown, as the Nasmyth portrait of Robert Burns

Period:
Late 19th Century
Description:

A monochrome sepia toned photographic print of a direct descendant of Robert Burns, taken as a superimposed image on his portrait.

 

Jean Armour Burns Brown was the great granddaughter of Robert Burns, descended through Robert Burns junior, the poet's eldest son. From the time she was a young woman she was said to bear an uncanny resemblance to her famous forebear.

 

Because of this she became something of a celebrity in her own right, touring in Scotland and North America. She was regularly invited to ceremonies and events associated with Robert Burns and occurs in many photographs from the 1890s onwards until her death in 1937.

 

This photographic oddity is a portrait from a calotype negative superimposed upon a similar photograph of the Alexander Nasmyth portrait of Robert Burns, which was painted in 1787 and which is undoubtedly the most frequently reproduced portrait of the poet.

Materials/Media:
paper
Dimensions:
width: 106 mm, length: 149 mm
Source:
Dumfries Museum & Camera Obscura
Accession number:
Photograph, PEOPLE, Robert Burns / 26
Digital Number:
DMBN093n
Creation Date:
c 1900
Copyright:
Dumfries & Galloway Council