X-ray photograph of a hand
Date
1896
Creator - Organisation
Swan Electric Engraving Company, Printmaker
After
Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton (1863 - 1930, British) , Electrical engineer
Object type
Material
Dimensions
height (print): 192mm
width (print): 143mm
width (print): 143mm
Subject
Content object
Description
X-ray image of a left hand through black vulcanised fibre, showing the dark shadow of the bones and the fainter outline of the soft tissue of the fingers and hand.
Dated ‘1896’ and stamped ‘Swan Electric Engraving Co.’ with ‘copyright’ inscribed in ink below. (verso)
Part of a set of six, these are prints from the first X-ray images produced in England, Swinton repeated the experiments of Wilhelm Röntgen to create these ‘shadowgrams’ and they were published in a special issue of The photogram ltd: ‘The new light’ (Dawbarn & Ward, London, 1896). A similar set of prints which sold through Bonhams are dated '18 January 1896' and it is likely that these were produced at the same time (Auction 19386: Papers & Portraits: The Roy Davids collection, part II, 29 March 2011, lot 359A).
Swan Electric Printing Company (active 1890s) was founded by Sir Joseph Swan FRS (1828-1914).
Dated ‘1896’ and stamped ‘Swan Electric Engraving Co.’ with ‘copyright’ inscribed in ink below. (verso)
Part of a set of six, these are prints from the first X-ray images produced in England, Swinton repeated the experiments of Wilhelm Röntgen to create these ‘shadowgrams’ and they were published in a special issue of The photogram ltd: ‘The new light’ (Dawbarn & Ward, London, 1896). A similar set of prints which sold through Bonhams are dated '18 January 1896' and it is likely that these were produced at the same time (Auction 19386: Papers & Portraits: The Roy Davids collection, part II, 29 March 2011, lot 359A).
Swan Electric Printing Company (active 1890s) was founded by Sir Joseph Swan FRS (1828-1914).
Object history
Wilhelm Röntgen (1845-1923), German physicist, revolutionised medical diagnosis through his discovery of the X-ray, which won him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.