Old Photos
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See also : Early French photo Travel photos
See also : Early French photo Travel photos
1825 Héliographie by Niepce
2002 SOLD for € 500K by Sotheby's
At the beginning of the 19th century, the use of images is considerably increased by the invention of lithography. Nicéphore Niépce develops from 1816 another method using a plaque covered with a photo-sensitive chemical substance.
The bitumen of Judea hardens under the light. Niépce dilutes it in an essence of lavender and smears the plaque. If a translucent object is placed on the plaque, the hardening under the light is variable according to the contrasts of the object. This effect can be achieved with a camera obscura.
The bitumen is removed after exposure and the plaque is inked in the hollows like an etching, before being pressed against the paper to create the positive image. It remains for the inventor to develop the fixators. This process is named heliography by Niépce.
Marie-Thérèse and André Jammes are passionate about the history of photography. They acquire a set of 48 autograph letters by Niépce. A low contrast image on 10 x 14.7 cm paper copying an old print of a man leading a horse is joined to a letter. Made in 1825, it is the oldest known example of a lasting fixation of a photographic image.
The photo, still accompanied by the letters, was sold for € 500K by Sotheby's on March 21, 2002, pre-empted by the French State for the benefit of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The next phase is to improve the sensitivity of the substance and adjust the exposure time. Niépce obtains an acceptable readability in 1827 with his 16 x 20 cm view taken from the window of his laboratory in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes. The exposure time was probably spread over several days.
The bitumen of Judea hardens under the light. Niépce dilutes it in an essence of lavender and smears the plaque. If a translucent object is placed on the plaque, the hardening under the light is variable according to the contrasts of the object. This effect can be achieved with a camera obscura.
The bitumen is removed after exposure and the plaque is inked in the hollows like an etching, before being pressed against the paper to create the positive image. It remains for the inventor to develop the fixators. This process is named heliography by Niépce.
Marie-Thérèse and André Jammes are passionate about the history of photography. They acquire a set of 48 autograph letters by Niépce. A low contrast image on 10 x 14.7 cm paper copying an old print of a man leading a horse is joined to a letter. Made in 1825, it is the oldest known example of a lasting fixation of a photographic image.
The photo, still accompanied by the letters, was sold for € 500K by Sotheby's on March 21, 2002, pre-empted by the French State for the benefit of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The next phase is to improve the sensitivity of the substance and adjust the exposure time. Niépce obtains an acceptable readability in 1827 with his 16 x 20 cm view taken from the window of his laboratory in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes. The exposure time was probably spread over several days.
1842-1846 the Photographic Archives of Fox Talbot's Half Sister
2021 SOLD for $ 1.96M by Sotheby's
On April 21, 2021, Sotheby's sold for $ 1.96M the photographic archives of Horatia Feilding, a beloved half sister of H. Fox Talbot, lot 11 from a lower estimate of $ 300K. This important set of albums, loose prints and fascicles is directly coming from the family of Horatia's husband.
(William) Henry Fox Talbot is the one and only British pioneer of photogenic drawings, later known as photography. The photos in the set are positive prints on salted paper made from the Calotype process of translucent negative that Talbot had patented in 1841, which he calls Talbotype on the cover of an album. The dates inscribed in the set range between 1842 and 1846.
The inventor manages to have his invention known through the publication of photos made by himself with his process. The Pencil of Nature, issued in 6 fascicles between 1844 and 1846, was the very first photographically illustrated text to be commercially available : the French processes only enabled unique images at that time. Horatia's collection includes the fascicles 2 to 5 of The Pencil of Nature plus a complete example of the 1845 Sun Pictures in Scotland with its original cover.
Henry was keen to demonstrate the whole range of applications of his process. Horatia was in the confidence of his progress and it is no surprise that the photos in her archives cover the same themes as The Pencil of Nature. They include also many photos from Henry's family circle and from his travels.
The set is made up of 71 loose prints, 3 albums including a total of 81 prints and the two publications referred above that respectively include 17 and 23 prints. At that time the fixed image was much sensitive to the storage and lighting conditions and many of them have faded. An early sketchbook by Horatia is also joined.
A set of the Pencil of Nature complete of his six fascicles and 24 salt prints was sold by Sotheby's for $ 275K on April 10, 2018, lot 214.
(William) Henry Fox Talbot is the one and only British pioneer of photogenic drawings, later known as photography. The photos in the set are positive prints on salted paper made from the Calotype process of translucent negative that Talbot had patented in 1841, which he calls Talbotype on the cover of an album. The dates inscribed in the set range between 1842 and 1846.
The inventor manages to have his invention known through the publication of photos made by himself with his process. The Pencil of Nature, issued in 6 fascicles between 1844 and 1846, was the very first photographically illustrated text to be commercially available : the French processes only enabled unique images at that time. Horatia's collection includes the fascicles 2 to 5 of The Pencil of Nature plus a complete example of the 1845 Sun Pictures in Scotland with its original cover.
Henry was keen to demonstrate the whole range of applications of his process. Horatia was in the confidence of his progress and it is no surprise that the photos in her archives cover the same themes as The Pencil of Nature. They include also many photos from Henry's family circle and from his travels.
The set is made up of 71 loose prints, 3 albums including a total of 81 prints and the two publications referred above that respectively include 17 and 23 prints. At that time the fixed image was much sensitive to the storage and lighting conditions and many of them have faded. An early sketchbook by Horatia is also joined.
A set of the Pencil of Nature complete of his six fascicles and 24 salt prints was sold by Sotheby's for $ 275K on April 10, 2018, lot 214.
1842 View in Athens by Girault de Prangey
2003 SOLD for £ 570K by Christie's
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey was an archaeologist. He circled the Mediterranea, on the western side from 1832 to 1834 and the eastern from 1842 to 1844. During his first voyage, he sketched the monuments with the precision required for his measurements. On his return he published in lithography his views of Moorish Spain.
The daguerreotype technique was made public in 1839. Before leaving for the Levant, he practiced it with views of Paris and of his country house, and self-portraits. In his quest for a maximum precision, he was already using the whole plate format, 24 x 19 cm. He takes about a thousand photos of which 300 will be numbered. On his return, he transfers them to watercolors and edits them in chromolithography.
His daguerreotypes of Greece, Turkey, Palestine, Syria and Egypt are the very first good quality photographs taken in these countries. Concerned about his archaeological research, he does not exploit his pioneering work of the new technique.
On May 20, 2003, Christie's dispersed 86 daguerreotypes from the artist's archive. This set included three masterpieces, by the precision of the framing and the beauty of the contrast.
The lot 13 is a whole plate view of the temple of Olympian Jupiter in Athens, taken in 1842. The artist was lucky : vignetting, very difficult to avoid at that time, did not reach the monument. The angle of view, obliquely in relation to the colonnades, is a powerful low angle. It was sold for £ 570K. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The view of the temple of Karnac through the Pylon is spectacularly symmetrical. This whole plate 24 x 19 cm made in 1842 or 1843 was sold for £ 400K, lot 72.
For the isolated columns, Girault de Prangey used to cut the plate in half in the direction of the height. His 24 x 9.4 cm daguerreotype of Trajan's Column, made in 1842, is a technical feat due to its distortion-free composition which required a perfect mastery of the camera obscura. It was sold for £ 320K, lot 6.
The daguerreotype technique was made public in 1839. Before leaving for the Levant, he practiced it with views of Paris and of his country house, and self-portraits. In his quest for a maximum precision, he was already using the whole plate format, 24 x 19 cm. He takes about a thousand photos of which 300 will be numbered. On his return, he transfers them to watercolors and edits them in chromolithography.
His daguerreotypes of Greece, Turkey, Palestine, Syria and Egypt are the very first good quality photographs taken in these countries. Concerned about his archaeological research, he does not exploit his pioneering work of the new technique.
On May 20, 2003, Christie's dispersed 86 daguerreotypes from the artist's archive. This set included three masterpieces, by the precision of the framing and the beauty of the contrast.
The lot 13 is a whole plate view of the temple of Olympian Jupiter in Athens, taken in 1842. The artist was lucky : vignetting, very difficult to avoid at that time, did not reach the monument. The angle of view, obliquely in relation to the colonnades, is a powerful low angle. It was sold for £ 570K. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The view of the temple of Karnac through the Pylon is spectacularly symmetrical. This whole plate 24 x 19 cm made in 1842 or 1843 was sold for £ 400K, lot 72.
For the isolated columns, Girault de Prangey used to cut the plate in half in the direction of the height. His 24 x 9.4 cm daguerreotype of Trajan's Column, made in 1842, is a technical feat due to its distortion-free composition which required a perfect mastery of the camera obscura. It was sold for £ 320K, lot 6.
1845 The Officers of the Franklin Expedition
2023 SOLD for £ 445K by Sotheby's
An Arctic explorer since as early as 1819, Sir John Franklin was commissioned in 1845 by the British Admiralty to lead an expedition in the last un-navigated sections of the Northwest Passage in Canada. The HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, back in 1843 from the Ross expedition, are retrofitted for Franklin.
The photographic artist Richard Beard had acquired in 1841 a monopoly for the daguerréotype patents in England and Wales. A few days before Franklin's departure from Kent with a crew of 24 officers and 110 men in May 1845, Beard went on board the Erebus on commission from Franklin's wife to make plein air photos in three quarter length of the top officers including Sir John.
Two sets of daguerreotypes were made. One of them of 14 portraits in sixth plate format 70 x 83 mm was hand colored with additional shell gold applied to the buttons, hat bands and epaulettes. It was kept in period in four rows in a folding morocco case 203 x 340 x 22 mm. This set in its box arrangement was used in 1851 for a woodcut print in mirror image published in an edition of The Illustrated London News.
This boxed set was still in 1851 in Beard's ownership. Hoarded from an unknown date to Sir John's family, it has just surfaced. It was sold for £ 445K from a lower estimate of £ 150K by Sotheby's on September 21, 2023, lot 265.
The other set of only 12 officers has not been boxed. It was originally attributed to Lady Franklin and transferred in 1941 by the family to the Scott Polar Research Institute.
The Franklin expedition was ill fated with no survivors. The icebound ships had been abandoned. Remnants of a camp was found as early as 1850. The wrecks were found in 2014 and 2016.
The photographic artist Richard Beard had acquired in 1841 a monopoly for the daguerréotype patents in England and Wales. A few days before Franklin's departure from Kent with a crew of 24 officers and 110 men in May 1845, Beard went on board the Erebus on commission from Franklin's wife to make plein air photos in three quarter length of the top officers including Sir John.
Two sets of daguerreotypes were made. One of them of 14 portraits in sixth plate format 70 x 83 mm was hand colored with additional shell gold applied to the buttons, hat bands and epaulettes. It was kept in period in four rows in a folding morocco case 203 x 340 x 22 mm. This set in its box arrangement was used in 1851 for a woodcut print in mirror image published in an edition of The Illustrated London News.
This boxed set was still in 1851 in Beard's ownership. Hoarded from an unknown date to Sir John's family, it has just surfaced. It was sold for £ 445K from a lower estimate of £ 150K by Sotheby's on September 21, 2023, lot 265.
The other set of only 12 officers has not been boxed. It was originally attributed to Lady Franklin and transferred in 1941 by the family to the Scott Polar Research Institute.
The Franklin expedition was ill fated with no survivors. The icebound ships had been abandoned. Remnants of a camp was found as early as 1850. The wrecks were found in 2014 and 2016.
LE GRAY
1
1851 Self Portrait at Arles-sur-Tech
2015 SOLD for € 500K by Pierre Bergé et Associés
In 1851 photography is no longer a mere technical curiosity. The French government, represented by the Commission des Monuments Historiques, wants to use it to record the image of monuments before restoring them.
Five photographers are chosen among the members of the Société Héliographique, created in January 1851. The monuments to be photographed are assigned to them with a distribution in five regions. Le Gray and Mestral regroup their missions and work together.
This great project arouses the enthusiasm of the Société Héliographique, very happy with this encouragement for large formats including a confrontation of the negative processes, for which Le Gray, Mestral and Le Secq use wax paper, Baldus gelatin paper and Bayard albumen glass. Le Gray is able to take 30 high quality photos within a single day.
The Commission had a goal of inventorying and preserving monuments and was not sensitive to the artistic quality, creating an intense frustration at the Société Héliographique. In 1965 André Jammes finds the negatives in the drawers of the government. The project is then identified as the Mission Héliographique.
On their journey, the photographers also work for their private use. The self-portrait by Le Gray in the Gothic cloister of Arles-sur-Tech in the Pyrénées Orientales department is one of the very rare examples featuring a character. It was certainly taken with Mestral's assistance.
Le Gray's technique is the most advanced but does not yet allow snapshots. The man is in a position of rest between two pillars under the very high arch. Strangely the top of the face is in the shadow of the hat.
An unmounted 34 x 25 cm salt paper positive print was sold for € 500K by Pierre Bergé et Associés on March 19, 2015, lot 101. It was at that time the only known print of this view. Another positive of the same technique and dimension has surfaced. It passed at Drouot on October 16, 2020.
After the Mission Héliographique, Le Gray took as an artistic theme the studies of trees in the forest of Fontainebleau. Hêtre (beech tree), Fontainebleau printed ca 1855 was sold for £ 420K by Sotheby's on October 27, 1999, lot 61 in the sale of the Jammes collection.
Five photographers are chosen among the members of the Société Héliographique, created in January 1851. The monuments to be photographed are assigned to them with a distribution in five regions. Le Gray and Mestral regroup their missions and work together.
This great project arouses the enthusiasm of the Société Héliographique, very happy with this encouragement for large formats including a confrontation of the negative processes, for which Le Gray, Mestral and Le Secq use wax paper, Baldus gelatin paper and Bayard albumen glass. Le Gray is able to take 30 high quality photos within a single day.
The Commission had a goal of inventorying and preserving monuments and was not sensitive to the artistic quality, creating an intense frustration at the Société Héliographique. In 1965 André Jammes finds the negatives in the drawers of the government. The project is then identified as the Mission Héliographique.
On their journey, the photographers also work for their private use. The self-portrait by Le Gray in the Gothic cloister of Arles-sur-Tech in the Pyrénées Orientales department is one of the very rare examples featuring a character. It was certainly taken with Mestral's assistance.
Le Gray's technique is the most advanced but does not yet allow snapshots. The man is in a position of rest between two pillars under the very high arch. Strangely the top of the face is in the shadow of the hat.
An unmounted 34 x 25 cm salt paper positive print was sold for € 500K by Pierre Bergé et Associés on March 19, 2015, lot 101. It was at that time the only known print of this view. Another positive of the same technique and dimension has surfaced. It passed at Drouot on October 16, 2020.
After the Mission Héliographique, Le Gray took as an artistic theme the studies of trees in the forest of Fontainebleau. Hêtre (beech tree), Fontainebleau printed ca 1855 was sold for £ 420K by Sotheby's on October 27, 1999, lot 61 in the sale of the Jammes collection.
2
1855 Grande Vague, Cette
1999 SOLD for £ 510K by Sotheby's
Photographic emulsions were not equally sensitive for all colors. Going one step further in seascape photography, Gustave Le Gray prints views from two different glass negatives on a single paper, for a dramatic effect of sky and seashore water under sunlight. These exposures may come from different locations.
His series of views of Marines executed between 1855 and 1858 are the masterpieces of the photography of his time. He practiced at that time the format 30 x 40 cm from collodion glass negative.
The boats on water and the waves at seaside are excuses to freeze the time, with a realism that even the best paintings could not offer. The effects of backlighting and the cloudy skies are technical feats that required different exposure times.
A positive albumen silver print in dark and deep tones in excellent condition of the 1855 Grande Vague, Cette (later spelled Sète) was sold for £ 510K from a lower estimate of £ 40K by Sotheby's on October 27, 1999, lot 64 in the sale of the Jammes collection.
His series of views of Marines executed between 1855 and 1858 are the masterpieces of the photography of his time. He practiced at that time the format 30 x 40 cm from collodion glass negative.
The boats on water and the waves at seaside are excuses to freeze the time, with a realism that even the best paintings could not offer. The effects of backlighting and the cloudy skies are technical feats that required different exposure times.
A positive albumen silver print in dark and deep tones in excellent condition of the 1855 Grande Vague, Cette (later spelled Sète) was sold for £ 510K from a lower estimate of £ 40K by Sotheby's on October 27, 1999, lot 64 in the sale of the Jammes collection.
3
1856-1857 Bateaux quittant le Port du Havre
2011 SOLD for € 920K by Rouillac
A view by Le Gray shows a fleet of boats leaving the harbor of Le Havre in 1856 or 1857. It is a beautiful contre-jour, with a bright sky. It was sold for € 920K by Rouillac on June 12, 2011 and for $ 970K by Christie's on February 17, 2016, lot 18. In a fresh condition, it had surfaced from the family of a naval officer who had perhaps bought them directly from the artist.
Another marine view listed in both above sales is the Broken wave made in 1857 at Cette (now Sète). It is a remarkable instantaneous view in portrait format adorned with two small boats, but the sky is less expressive. It was sold for € 370K by Rouillac and for $ 137K by Christie's, lot 38.
Another marine view listed in both above sales is the Broken wave made in 1857 at Cette (now Sète). It is a remarkable instantaneous view in portrait format adorned with two small boats, but the sky is less expressive. It was sold for € 370K by Rouillac and for $ 137K by Christie's, lot 38.
A stunning image from a master of 19th c. photography: https://t.co/SNVolm901K https://t.co/SNVolm901K pic.twitter.com/CdkuOp3mzo
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) February 5, 2016
4
1857 Camp de Châlons
2007 SOLD for € 700K by Artcurial
Napoléon III had said "l'Empire, c'est la paix" (Empire means peace). He made war in Crimea, Italy, Mexico, and his reign ended in the disastrous Franco-Prussian War. But he also took care to strengthen the military organization of France. The camp (field) in St-Maur, the Camp de Châlons and the Cherbourg harbour are the best examples.
The photographers are there. Military affairs are not subject to secret, indeed such news were used to display the strength of the army. In 1857, at the opening of the Camp de Châlons, Gustave Le Gray was invited by officials, or more probably by the Emperor himself, to illustrate the maneuvers.
Albums are prepared for the officers. It is useful to remind here that an album is not a book. It is assembled upon request, differently for each client, just like the composite atlas of the past.
The copy of Colonel d'Eggs, sold for € 700K by Artcurial on November 17, 2007, contained 64 albumen prints mounted on 54 x 65 cm cardboards.
The photographers are there. Military affairs are not subject to secret, indeed such news were used to display the strength of the army. In 1857, at the opening of the Camp de Châlons, Gustave Le Gray was invited by officials, or more probably by the Emperor himself, to illustrate the maneuvers.
Albums are prepared for the officers. It is useful to remind here that an album is not a book. It is assembled upon request, differently for each client, just like the composite atlas of the past.
The copy of Colonel d'Eggs, sold for € 700K by Artcurial on November 17, 2007, contained 64 albumen prints mounted on 54 x 65 cm cardboards.
1854-1855 Pierrot by Nadar
2011 SOLD for $ 540K by Phillips de Pury
The elder of the Tournachon brothers was attracted by the easy life of literary figures in Paris. He met the writers and became a caricaturist under the pseudonym of Nadar.
The Second Empire is not kind to the lovers of freedom, and Nadar, now becoming a photographer, begins to shoot the portrait of his friends. A series of photos of Charles Deburau dates from the very short period, 1854-1855, when Nadar and his brother worked together.
The famous Baptiste Deburau, Charles's father, had worked at the Théâtre des Funambules from 1819 until his death in 1846. The shows of the streets, cafés-concerts and small theaters then animated the capital. Baptiste had revived the traditional character of Pierrot. He was the best mime of his time. Charles succeeded his father in that role.
A photo shows Charles Deburau in his long white dress of Pierrot, carefully observing the fruit basket he holds at the level of his heart. This salt print, 29 x 21 cm, is signed by Nadar Jne (young) and inscribed by Deburau to one of his collaborators.
IIt is a nice photo, and a rare witness to the transition between the trivial drama inspired by the commedia dell'arte and the expressive inventions of modern performances. It was sold for $ 540K from a lower estimate of $ 150K by Phillips de Pury on October 4, 2011, lot 221.
The Second Empire is not kind to the lovers of freedom, and Nadar, now becoming a photographer, begins to shoot the portrait of his friends. A series of photos of Charles Deburau dates from the very short period, 1854-1855, when Nadar and his brother worked together.
The famous Baptiste Deburau, Charles's father, had worked at the Théâtre des Funambules from 1819 until his death in 1846. The shows of the streets, cafés-concerts and small theaters then animated the capital. Baptiste had revived the traditional character of Pierrot. He was the best mime of his time. Charles succeeded his father in that role.
A photo shows Charles Deburau in his long white dress of Pierrot, carefully observing the fruit basket he holds at the level of his heart. This salt print, 29 x 21 cm, is signed by Nadar Jne (young) and inscribed by Deburau to one of his collaborators.
IIt is a nice photo, and a rare witness to the transition between the trivial drama inspired by the commedia dell'arte and the expressive inventions of modern performances. It was sold for $ 540K from a lower estimate of $ 150K by Phillips de Pury on October 4, 2011, lot 221.
1879-1880 Billy the Kid Tintype
2011 SOLD for $ 2.3M by Brian Lebel
The American West was crossed by frightful robbers, who feuded by the horror of their murders and ended up killing one another. The saga of Billy the Kid ranks him among the most savage, but his youthful face made him a hero.
In the whirlwind of his life outside the law, the Kid stopped however during a few minutes before the lens of a photographer. It was at Fort Sumner, New Mexico in late 1879 or early 1880. The technique used was the tintype, which had the advantage of rapid processing. One imagines that this characteristic pleased this hurrying man.
He was 20 years old. Standing right in his boots, he holds his long rifle, the butt on the floor. This very rare (perhaps unique) image has become one of the most famous pictures in the history of the West. This small photo 5 x 7.5 cm in poor condition is a unique document in the Wild West. It was sold for $ 2.3M from lower estimate of $ 300K on June 25, 2011 by Brian Lebel. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Less known than the outlaws, the photographers have their own role in the legend of the West. The photo of the Kid is attributed by several sources to Ben Wittick, an itinerant photographer in New Mexico. Wittick died in 1903 after being bitten by a rattlesnake which he was preparing for photographing a scene of ritual dance.
In the whirlwind of his life outside the law, the Kid stopped however during a few minutes before the lens of a photographer. It was at Fort Sumner, New Mexico in late 1879 or early 1880. The technique used was the tintype, which had the advantage of rapid processing. One imagines that this characteristic pleased this hurrying man.
He was 20 years old. Standing right in his boots, he holds his long rifle, the butt on the floor. This very rare (perhaps unique) image has become one of the most famous pictures in the history of the West. This small photo 5 x 7.5 cm in poor condition is a unique document in the Wild West. It was sold for $ 2.3M from lower estimate of $ 300K on June 25, 2011 by Brian Lebel. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Less known than the outlaws, the photographers have their own role in the legend of the West. The photo of the Kid is attributed by several sources to Ben Wittick, an itinerant photographer in New Mexico. Wittick died in 1903 after being bitten by a rattlesnake which he was preparing for photographing a scene of ritual dance.
