Silver Shadows Gallery Ltd.

Reshare of the Classics post. Come down to the Bloomsbury Photo Fair, London the 24 of September. We will be there with plenty of hard images (daguerreotypes, etc and early paper from the likes of Fox Talbot and later 19th century artists.

Bloomsbury Photograph Fair, London on Sunday 26th February.
Silver Shadows Gallery will be exhibiting at the first UK photo show of the year alongside many other high quality vintage dealers. We will be showing a lot of new material from 1839 (daguerreotypes and early paper images) to modern fine art images (platinum prints, etc).
The Photo Show will be taking place alongside the Bloomsbury Ephemera Fair for the first time. A bumper event with a diverse array of items for sale: ephemera, books, postcards, maps, prints, manuscripts, photographs and lots of other collectable and vintage printed material!
Both show open 9.30-3pm, admission £3 for both events!

On Fox Talbot's Birthday, we celebrate the great man by posting the iconic cover of perhaps his greatest work, The Pencil of Nature. Original and full Vol5 Pencil of Nature By Fox Talbot - Complete With Iconic Cover, Lace Calotype and Salt Prints of Lacock. Silver Shadows Collection

Let's all say cheers to a very happy and prosperous New Year!

American autochrome of a cute little girl cuddling her doll circa 1910.

1857c Large 3/4 Plate Occupational Barefoot Fisherman Ambrotype By John Ingle Lee, 57 Church St Liverpool. Reminiscent of the iconic work of FM Sutcliffe but decades earlier.

Bloomsbury Photo Fair - Sunday March 8th!

Although this plate is modern, the process used is much earlier! Colorful squash for Halloween. 2015 Lippmann Process 10x10cm Plate By Filipe Alves.

1849-52c Quarter Plate American Daguerreotype - Early American Railroad Locomotive 4-4-0 Norris or Baldwin Design c1848 NY Erie or Baltimore Ohio (BO) Railways. Taken with a primitively ground lens which resulted in a softer focus centre and sharp peripheries.

Come see this and many other great images at The Daguerreian Society Symposium.
The Daguerreian Society Conference & Show October 3-6 In Kansas City
Oct 3rd: Thursday evening reception at the Nelson-Atkins Museum
Oct 4th: Friday - Main Symposium Nelson-Atkins Auditorium
Oct 5th: Saturday Vintage Photography Trade Fair 9:00 am - 4:00 pm: Marriott Country Club Plaza. In collaboration with Military Imagesmagazine which will also see many military & Civil war dealers in attendance.
Oct 5thSaturday evening, Benefit Auction: Marriott Country Club Plaza, 6:30 pm - 11:00 pm and online here:
Why not also consider becoming a member of the Society and get symposium discounts plus access to their fabulous annuals and quarterly publications. Membership fees not only get you the above benefits but the charitable funds also go to fostering scholarly research and the advancement of vintage photography.
Become A Member

1853c Memento Mori Stereoscopic Daguerreotype Of A Monk Holding Rosary Beads (handsome young Jesus look like with glowing eyes), With A Human Skull, Crucifix and A Whisky/Wine Glass On The Table. The image shows a monk seated alongside a table and surrounded with various religious (allegorical) items, including a human skull, bible, crucifix, rosary beads, etc highlighting some of the vices/temptations we face and suggests that one's life span is finite. Metaphor for mortality and being ready for the afterlife (skull - Jesus). No identification but its composition is similar to other unstamped T R Williams (also found with stamped T R Williams stereo dags from the same estate). Les Diableries - Memento Mori (Latin: "remember (that) you will die") is the medieval Latin Christian theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. It is related to the ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying") and similar Western literature. Memento mori has been an important part of ascetic disciplines as a means of perfecting the character by cultivating detachment and other virtues, and by turning the attention towards the immortality of the soul and the afterlife. In art, memento mori are artistic or symbolic reminders of mortality. In the European Christian art context, "the expression developed with the growth of Christianity, which emphasized Heaven, Hell, and salvation of the soul in the afterlife".
Come see this and many other great images at The Daguerreian Society Symposium.
The Daguerreian Society Conference & Show October 3-6 In Kansas City
Oct 3rd: Thursday evening reception at the Nelson-Atkins Museum
Oct 4th: Friday - Main Symposium Nelson-Atkins Auditorium
Oct 5th: Saturday Vintage Photography Trade Fair 9:00 am - 4:00 pm: Marriott Country Club Plaza. In collaboration with Military Imagesmagazine which will also see many military & Civil war dealers in attendance.
Oct 5thSaturday evening, Benefit Auction: Marriott Country Club Plaza, 6:30 pm - 11:00 pm and online here:
Why not also consider becoming a member of the Society and get symposium discounts plus access to their fabulous annuals and quarterly publications. Membership fees not only get you the above benefits but the charitable funds also go to fostering scholarly research and the advancement of vintage photography.
Become A Member

Staying with France, this is an 1845c Large Half Plate Tinted Daguerreotype of a Child Post Mortem Laid Out On The Couch.

Come see this and many other great images at The Daguerreian Society Conference & Show October 3-6 In Kansas City

Oct 3rd: Thursday evening reception at the Nelson-Atkins Museum
Oct 4th: Friday - Main Symposium Nelson-Atkins Auditorium
Oct 5th: Saturday Vintage Photography Trade Fair 9:00 am - 4:00 pm: Marriott Country Club Plaza. In collaboration with Military Images magazine which will also see many military & Civil war dealers in attendance.
Oct 5th: Saturday evening, Benefit Auction: Marriott Country Club Plaza, 6:30 pm - 11:00 pm and online here:

Why not also consider becoming a member of the Society and get symposium discounts plus access to their fabulous annuals and quarterly publications. Membership fees not only get you the above benefits but the charitable funds also go to fostering scholarly research and the advancement of vintage photography.
Become A Member

1842 (April) 1/3rd Plate Early Daguerreotype of Rome - 54 La Navicella By Joseph Philibert Girault De Prangey. Titled and numbered In Prangey’s own hand in ink on a label affixed to verso. Dimensions: 3 ½ x 4 ¾ in.; 9,2 x 11,8 cm. Some light wisps and marks likely caused by Prangey himself in the field. Provenance: Sotheby’s. the marble statue of a small Roman ship (navicella) situated in front of the church of Santa Maria in Domnica. The statue is one of the symbols of the Caelian neighbourhood, beloved by Romans who currently refer to the church as La Navicella. Pope Leo X Medici had it made at the beginning of the 1500s to replace a more ancient marble ship which was found on the site.

Come see this and many other great images at:

The Daguerreian Society Conference & Show October 3-6 In Kansas City

Oct 3rd: Thursday evening reception at the Nelson-Atkins Museum
Oct 4th: Friday - Main Symposium Nelson-Atkins Auditorium
Oct 5th: Saturday Vintage Photography Trade Fair 9:00 am - 4:00 pm: Marriott Country Club Plaza. In collaboration with Military Images magazine which will also see many military & Civil war dealers in attendance.
Oct 5th: Saturday evening, Benefit Auction: Marriott Country Club Plaza, 6:30 pm - 11:00 pm and online here:

Why not also consider becoming a member of the Society and get symposium discounts plus access to their fabulous annuals and quarterly publications. Membership fees not only get you the above benefits but the charitable funds also go to fostering scholarly research and the advancement of vintage photography.
Become A Member

With just a week and a half left before the big Daguerreian Society Symposium, Fair and Auction I thought I would start posting some images to get the juices flowing.
1850c 6th Plate Tinted British Daguerreotype Of A Couple With Brewster Stereoscope Attributed To Claudet – The husband looks a strict disciplinarian while his wife stares into the camera with a sultry pose and hand through her hair as if she was Betty Boop was saying “hello big boy”.
If you haven’t already made your travel arrangements to Kansas City (Oct 3-6), there is no time to waste to ensure you catch the best all round vintage photo event of the year. Hope to see you there!

The Daguerreian Society Conference & Show October 3-6 In Kansas City
Oct 3rd: Thursday evening reception at the Nelson-Atkins Museum
Oct 4th: Friday - Main Symposium Nelson-Atkins Auditorium
Oct 5th: Saturday Vintage Photography Trade Fair 9:00 am - 4:00 pm: Marriott Country Club Plaza. In collaboration with Military Images magazine which will also see many military & Civil war dealers in attendance.
Oct 5th: Saturday evening, Benefit Auction: Marriott Country Club Plaza, 6:30 pm - 11:00 pm and online here:

Why not also consider becoming a member of the Society and get symposium discounts plus access to their fabulous annuals and quarterly publications. Membership fees not only get you the above benefits but the charitable funds also go to fostering scholarly research and the advancement of vintage photography.
Become A Member

To celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day landings, here are some original glass plate negatives to help us remember the sacrifices made by all our veterans.

The first images show the American navy taking part in Exercise Tiger at Slapton Sands in Devon. This was one of the main rehearsals for the D-Day landings in Normandy. Author's collection.

Intriguing and important new pickups to share in the form of large heavily tinted albumen framed portraits of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and Princess Alexandra. These were possibly taken in 1863 to commemorate his appointment as Colonel of the 10th Prince of Wales’s own Royal Hussars. Early in the same year, Jabez Mayall was employed to photograph the Royal Wedding between Edward and Alexandra. Some of these standard wedding images were released in CDV form to the public but there was one special large version done at the behest of the Royal couple as a gift for Queen Victoria’s birthday. This large albumen wedding print was heavily over tinted by Mayall’s own studio and bares very close quality and background tinting to the two new portraits. On this evidence, it would appear that they are also by Mayall. William and Daniel Downey (one of Victoria’s favourite studios) however were known to have published a matching CDV image of Edward in his Colonels uniform but with a different backdrop. This backdrop and the fact that W&D Downey did not employ the same quality professional painter does add some doubt to their complete involvement. Another possibility in the mix is Sergey Lvovich Levitsky who was known to have taken images of Alexandra (particular during this period wearing the exact dark purple/black lace finished dress also holding a fan). Again however, Levitsky was not known to have specialised portrait painters in his employ. The answer may well be a combo of the first two options where Downey and Levitsky took the images and then Mayall’s studio did the overpainting. It sounds an unlikely collaboration unless it was the sitters who were responsible for taking previously taken images to Mayall or another paint studio. Indeed, to my eye it looks as though the Prince’s image is Downey’s work and the Princess’s down to Levitsky. They were then taken to be overpainted with the same background by the same painter (i.e. Mayall who tinted the Wedding images months before). Given their size, multiple studio origin, background similarity with the Mayall wedding portraits and expensive professional overpainting, it is a possibility that they may well have been ordered by the Queen or her son (for personal use or as a gift for someone else). It would seem unlikely that a single studio would want to handle and enhance someone else’s work without an important outside commission.

Today would have been Queen Victoria's 200th Birthday. To follow in the footsteps of the recent dag discovery and to celebrate her Birthday, here is my Victoria stereo daguerreotype contribution...…. 1855 April 20th – An Early News & Propaganda Photographs (taken to show unity with France during the Crimean War with Russia) – Stereo Daguerreotype of Napoleon III’s and Empress Eugenie’s Reception/Visit With Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Taken at Crystal Palace By Philip Henry Delamotte For Negretti & Zambra.

Please come along to the new location at the Hellenic Centre in London. There will be lots of great dealers with a wide range of fantastic photographic material. Hope to see you there.

A rare beauty, photogenic drawing 1839 by William Thomas Salvin, made by him after hearing William Henry Fox Talbot at the Royal Society in early 1839. With Jason Wright at the London Photograph Fair Marylebone Sunday 17 March 2019.

It has been a busy year here at Silver Shadows and we would just like to take this opportunity to thank all our friends and clients for their business and wish them the happiest of Holidays.

One of the few known examples of Richard Beard's 1851/2 patent ceramic coated daguerreotype (first shown at the Great Exposition in 1851). It is a lovely quarter plate portrait of a handsome man in front of a highly tinted painted backdrop. As a result of the ceramic coating, this image has no tarnish (sealed away from oxygen) and you can even put your finger on the surface without damaging it. The Royal collection has one of the few other examples which was purchased by Queen Victoria in 1852: https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/2932501/tyrolese-singers

Here is one of my favourite dog images - 'Bringing His Master's Pipe' on top of a travel trunk 6th plate tinted ambrotype in MOP case. How he held the pipe, begged on two legs and stayed still I will never know!

Here is a bit of a quandary. A nice quarter plate, ID'd French quarter plate daguerreotype of a nun with a cross, bible and rosary. The strange thing is that the cross has its exact opposite ghost right next to it. Any thoughts on how it was made? It is not a reflection on the glass, addition on the plate nor embroidery on the habit but rather purely photographic. Could it be a double exposure - taking one for a second and the turning the plate the other way for the rest of the exposure? If that was the case, you would think that it would overwrite the original image though and nothing would show underneath.

PBS National TV Feature and Interview on the newly discovered 1906 San Francisco Miles Brothers Silver Shadows After Quake Footage.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/rediscovered-film-takes-a-trip-through-san-francisco-in-ruins?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=newshour&linkId=100000002763684

Rediscovered film takes a trip through San Francisco in ruins Our NewsHour Shares moment of the day, a century-old film of San Francisco’s devastating 1906 earthquake aftermath turned up at a California flea market.

New Daily Mail article on the newly discovered 1906 San Francisco Miles Brothers After Quake Footage.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5849967/Rare-film-uncovered-flea-market-shows-devastated-San-Francisco-right-1906-Earthquake.html

Film found at flea market shows San Francisco right after 1906 quake A rare film by the Miles Brothers, shot two weeks after the great San Francisco earthquake of April 1906, was purchased by filmmaker Jason Wright of Silver Shadows Gallery Ltd on a hunch in 2016.

A great piece today by NBC's Joe Rosato on the new 1906 San Francisco Earthquake footage!

Rare Footage of 1906 Earthquake Devastation to Go Public After spending decades forgotten somewhere in a film canister, a film of previously-unknown footage showing aftermath of San Francisco’s devastating 1906 earthquake and fire will finally go on public view.