{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1507612"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1507612/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MD4296/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MD4296/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2019MD4296","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2023NH6487","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2023NH6488","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1507612","accessionNumber":"RPS.888-2019","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Tartan Ribbon","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"James Clerk Maxwell established the foundation for this photograph in 1861 during a presentation at the Royal Institution of London. Although Maxwell had little interest in photography itself, he used the medium to explore the physics of colour and nature of human sight. Working with photographer Thomas Sutton (1819–1875), Maxwell set out to prove the theory of three-colour vision and the idea that any colour could be produced through a combination of red, green and blue light.\n\nFor his demonstration, Maxwell commissioned Sutton to create three individual black-and-white negatives of the tartan ribbon, each photographed through a red, green or blue filter. These negatives, known as 'separation negatives', were then converted into positives and projected together through their corresponding coloured filters. When superimposed, they formed a single full-colour image. Almost unintentionally, this experiment paved the way for colour photography.\n\nIn 1937, Dr. Spencer discovered that Sutton’s original positive transparencies from the 1861 presentation were held at Cambridge University. Using his own process, Vivex, introduced in the late 1920s, he produced the first physical print of the tartan ribbon projection.","physicalDescription":"Photograph of a green, red and blue tartan ribbon against a black backdrop. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Dr D.A. Spencer","id":"AUTH353629"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"three-colour carbro process","id":"AAT133484"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"This photograph was made using Dr D.A. Spencer's process that he called 'Vivex'. It was a variation of the tri-colour carbro process invented in 1928.","categories":[{"text":"The Royal Photographic Society","id":"THES281081"},{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"DOP","id":"THES291628"},"images":["2019MD4296","2023NH6487","2023NH6488"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLF","id":"THES49656"},"free":"","case":"MB10","shelf":"SH","box":"64"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}],[{"text":"colour photograph","id":"AAT128359"}],[{"text":"Vivex colour print","id":"THES388689"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"circa 1937","earliest":"1932-01-01","latest":"1941-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Width","value":"103","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"image","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"95","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"image","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph made by Dr D.A. Spencer, 'Tartan Ribbon', Vivex colour print, printed ca. 1933 using original James Clerk Maxwell positive transparencies created in 1861. ","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pénichon, Sylvie. <i>Twentieth Century Colour Photographs: Identification and Care</i>. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Conservation Institute, 2013."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Coote, Jack H.<i> The Illustrated History of Colour Photography</i>. Surrey, UK: Fountain Press Limited, 1993."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Roberts, Pamela. <i>A Century of Colour Photography: From the Autochrome to the Digital Age</i>. London, UK: Andres Deutsch Limited, Carlton Publishing Group, 2007."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["RPS.888-2019"],"accessionNumberNum":"888","accessionNumberPrefix":"RPS","accessionYear":2019,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-27","recordCreationDate":"2019-08-15","availableToBook":false}}