Biscayne Manatee
SOLD October 2010 |
Warm-toned printing-out print showing a manatee, with area above manatee cropped out by photographer, circa 1895. Mounted on period album board measuring 11 x 13.5 inches (28x34 cm), titled below print in ink "Manatee." With a second print mounted on reverse of board, titled "Head of Miami River, opening into the Everglades." Print size 5 x 7.75 inches (13x20 cm).
Print overall in very good condition, some small scrapes to emulsion. Nicks and scrapes to everglades image on reverse.
These photographs come from a group of travel albums descending from the family of Charles Goddard Weld (1857-1911) and believed to be Weld's personal albums, as several bear his bookplate. Weld, a Boston-area physician, traveled to the East at the end of the 19th century and had important connections to Asian art as well as to the photographer Edward Curtis. He donated a collection of over 100 original Curtis images to the Peabody Essex Museum of Salem, Massachusetts and an important collection of Asian art to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These photographs were likely gathered by Weld during his travels in the East.
Below: Book plate from one of Weld's travel albums: