Photographs - Portraits

  • Tintype photographic portrait of a mother and daughter, late 1870s.

    # 23934

    Photographer unidentified.

    Tintype photographic portrait of a mother and daughter, late 1870s.

    [Australia or U.S.A. : photographer unidentified, between 1875 and 1880]. Sixth plate tintype photograph with hand colouring, 102 x 62 mm; a few surface scratches, else in good condition. The seated woman is holding a book in her left hand, the cover title of which is legible: it reads The Illustrated Aesop’s Fables for Schoolchildren. Was she …

  • Portrait of young pianist Miss Ada Willetts, taken by her father, professional photographer George Willetts. Ballarat, circa 1890.

    # 24416

    WILLETTS, George (1841-1909)

    Portrait of young pianist Miss Ada Willetts, taken by her father, professional photographer George Willetts. Ballarat, circa 1890.

    Albumen print, carte de visite format, 110 x 63 mm (mount); recto of mount imprinted in gold ‘Willetts, Photo., Ballarat’; verso with the decorative back mark of ‘Willetts Photographic Temple of Light, Bridge Street, Ballarat’, and with an identifying caption in pencil in contemporaneous hand: ‘Miss Ada Willetts’; the strong albumen print has some mottling in the …

  • Humorous German carte de visite of three men drinking beer and schnapps, using photomontage. Circa 1885.

    # 23936

    W. HORNUNG (photographer)

    Humorous German carte de visite of three men drinking beer and schnapps, using photomontage. Circa 1885.

    Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 105 x 65 mm (mount); verso with imprint of the studio of W. Hornung, Tübingen; in very good condition.  

  • Noongar men, southwest Western Australia, circa 1868.

    # 23258

    [MANNING & KNIGHT, attributed]

    Noongar men, southwest Western Australia, circa 1868.

    Albumen print photograph, 59 x 82 mm, laid down on a piece cut from a 19th century album page, contemporary caption in pencil beneath image: ‘Australian Natives armed with boomerangs’; the print is slightly faded but otherwise is in very good condition. The attribution to the Perth-based photographic partnership of Manning & Knight is based …

  • Photographic portrait of a Tokelau woman from the Line Islands, circa 1875.

    # 20088

    DUFTY, Francis Herbert (1846-1910)

    Photographic portrait of a Tokelau woman from the Line Islands, circa 1875.

    Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 103 x 63 mm, verso with imprint of ‘F.H. Dufty, Photographer, Levuka, Fiji’, and contemporary inscription in ink: ‘Tokalau [sic] Woman, Line Islands’; both the albumen print and mount are in fine condition. Francis Herbert Dufty was an English-born photographer who arrived in Fiji in May 1871, having …

  • Studio portrait of a wealthy Sydney lady posing in front of a painted backdrop depicting Government House, circa 1864.

    # 20855

    JOHN T. GORUS

    Studio portrait of a wealthy Sydney lady posing in front of a painted backdrop depicting Government House, circa 1864.

    Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 101 x 64 mm (mount), verso with imprint of ‘John T. Gorus, Photographic Artist, 101 King St. Sydney’; the sitter has a touch of rose tinting on her lips; both the print and mount in very good condition. In addition to being a minor masterpiece of 1860s colonial …

  • Photographic portrait of Townsend Duryea (junior), taken by his father, 1871-72.

    # 20785

    DURYEA, Townsend (senior) (1823-1888)

    Photographic portrait of Townsend Duryea (junior), taken by his father, 1871-72.

    Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 106 x 64 mm, recto of mount inscribed in ink in lower margin ‘Jnr. Duryea’; verso with the Townsend Duryea (senior) back mark advertising his firm as ‘By Appointment to H.R.H. the Duke of Edinboro [sic]’ and ‘By Appointment to H.E. Sir Jas. Ferguson [sic], Bart.’; the albumen …

  • Photographic portrait of Hugh Childers, colonial civil servant and politician, circa 1885.

    # 20850

    ELLIOTT & FRY; [CHILDERS, Hugh Culling Eardley Childers, 1827-1896]

    Photographic portrait of Hugh Childers, colonial civil servant and politician, circa 1885.

    Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 104 x 63 mm (mount), recto and verso with imprint of Elliott & Fry, Photographers, London; both the print and mount are in fine condition. Oxford-educated civil servant Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (1827-1896) arrived in Melbourne with his wife in 1850. In 1851 he was appointed inspector of Denominational …

  • West Australian Aborigines 1883

    # 18228

    Photographers unknown.

    West Australian Aborigines 1883

    [Title from caption on mount]. Four albumen print photographs, each in carte de visite format (three are 90 x 60 mm; one 85 x 55 mm), mounted recto of a leaf of thick card removed from a nineteenth century album; inscribed in ink at centre of mount ‘West Australian Aborigines 1883’; the album owner decorated …

  • The Victoria Volunteer Engineers in camp near Melbourne, 1871

    # 18916

    NETTLETON, Charles (1826-1902), attributed

    The Victoria Volunteer Engineers in camp near Melbourne, 1871

    Albumen print photograph, 200 x 270 mm, no photographer’s imprint; laid down on its original album page, contemporary manuscript caption in ink beneath image ‘Victoria Engineer Volunteers [sic] in Camp near Melbourne 1871’; verso blank; the albumen print is in fine condition, and the page is free from foxing. This large format composition shows the …

  • Woodchopping competition, Ballarat, circa 1910.

    # 18583

    Photographer unknown.

    Woodchopping competition, Ballarat, circa 1910.

    Gelatin silver print photograph, 155 x 205 mm, laid down on an old album page; no photographer’s imprint; verso inscribed in pencil in a modern hand ‘Wood cutting competition, Ballarat’; this inscription by the previous owner was based on original inscriptions on other photographs removed from the album, which were all taken in the Ballarat area; …

  • Portrait of Gomenna, holding a gourd jar, New Caledonia, circa 1875

    # 16636

    DUFTY, Edward Henry (1850-1905); DUFTY, Walter Frederick (1854-1919)

    Portrait of Gomenna, holding a gourd jar, New Caledonia, circa 1875

    Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 105 x 65 mm (mount); the albumen print is in very good condition with excellent tonal range, a couple of tiny spots of foxing; the mount is fine. Although this photograph is not inscribed, the title and attribution are derived from the inscriptions on a photograph with the …

  • Photographic portrait of two young Kanak women in traditional dress, New Caledonia, late 1870s

    # 16644

    HUGHAN, Allan (1834-1883) (attributed)

    Photographic portrait of two young Kanak women in traditional dress, New Caledonia, late 1870s

    Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 105 x 65 mm (mount); the print with some light foxing, the mount fine. This photograph of two unidentified young Kanak women was taken in the Noumea studio of Allan Hughan between 1875 and 1880. This attribution is based on the distinctive backdrop, which appears in other portraits …

  • Photographic portrait of two Kanak men holding spears and clubs, New Caledonia, late 1870s

    # 16642

    DUFTY, E.H. (Edward Henry), 1850-1905 (attributed)

    Photographic portrait of two Kanak men holding spears and clubs, New Caledonia, late 1870s

    Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 105 x 65 mm (mount); the albumen print in very good condition, with slight loss of contrast; else in fine condition with good tonal range. This photograph of two unidentified young Kanak men was almost certainly taken in the Noumea studio of E.H. Dufty between 1875 and 1880. …

  • Photographic portrait of a lady in a fine dress, holding a book. Brisbane, 1862-65.

    # 18329

    WATSON, John

    Photographic portrait of a lady in a fine dress, holding a book. Brisbane, 1862-65.

    Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 103 x 63 mm, verso with studio imprint of J. Watson, Photographer, Queen-street, Brisbane; the albumen print has a couple of light surface marks (but what appears to be a stain at upper left is in fact simply the dark section of the painted backdrop and a shadow …

  • Signed photographic portrait of the actress Lily Brayton, wife of Australian actor Oscar Asche.

    # 17793

    [BRAYTON, Lily, 1876-1953]; Photographer unknown

    Signed photographic portrait of the actress Lily Brayton, wife of Australian actor Oscar Asche.

    [London? : photographer unknown, circa 1905]. Hand coloured silver gelatin print, 135 x 83 mm, bearing Lily Brayton’s full signature in ink, captioned in the negative ‘Lily Brayton’ and ‘Sole copyright’ (photographer’s imprint not visible); laid down on an early twentieth century album page with the collector’s manuscript label mounted below, ‘Lily Brayton (Mrs. Oscar …