Erotic Albumen

I was a tad surprised the other day to discover my partner didn't know what an albumen print was. I guess I spent a little too much time at the old ICP in my youth.

Although this very early photographic print process was in use from the 1850s up to the 1890s, I've rarely seen erotic albumens. As you might expect, most professional photographers of the day focused on studio portraits of stuffy Victorians and (because of the limits of the process) very eerie landscapes.

This flawless (and, for the period, wildly scandalous) print seems to be an early example of the medium. Guessing 1880s, but could easily be older.