Sultan 1853 - 1857

Nevil Story Maskelyne captured “Sultan” using photography, a relatively new medium in the 19th century. Maskelyne, an Oxford professor, was part of a social elite which had the means to engage with the latest technologies. The photograph depicts a horse named Sultan with a young girl standing beside it. In Victorian England, there were strict social codes and gender roles, with women often portrayed as symbols of purity and domesticity. Here we have an image where the girl is literally overshadowed by the horse, a symbol of power and status, drawing attention to the dynamics between gender and class during this period. Photography during this era was also used to document and classify the world, reflecting a desire for scientific understanding and control. Animals like Sultan were prized possessions, indicators of wealth and rural gentry. This image then, becomes a marker of identity and social standing, capturing not just a horse, but a whole way of life.