Wilson Dobie Wilson before 1896

This small portrait print of Wilson Dobie Wilson comes to us from an anonymous artist. Such images are often found in genealogical collections, forming part of family histories. But what is the public role of such an image? What is the cultural work it performs? The visual codes of the image speak to us of early 19th-century Britain. The sitter’s dress and hairstyle identify him as a member of the professional classes. These were the people who managed and benefitted from the expansion of the British Empire. Their status was often intimately bound up with the institutions of that Empire, in law, education, and the church. Wilson Dobie Wilson, for example, was a Professor of Oriental Languages. This image is self-consciously conservative, presenting its subject as a figure of established power. To better understand the image, the social historian will want to know more about the Wilson family and its relation to the institutions of the British state.