Ambrotype of a gentleman with a moustache and tousled hair. Melbourne, 1873-76.

Ninth-plate ambrotype with applied colour, 53 x 41 mm (sight); in an oval patterned brass mat, housed in its original wall frame of papier-mâché over wood, with brass hook for suspension; verso of frame with studio’s printed label: ‘From Bell’s 6d Portrait Rooms, 155 Swanston St., Melbourne’; in excellent condition.

As far as we can ascertain, this ambrotype was made no earlier than 1873, the first year in which Bell’s Portrait Rooms commenced advertising (see below for the chronological sequence of the photographer’s addresses). This is an unusually late date for an ambrotype photograph. In fact, we can find no Australian photographic studios mentioning the ambrotype process in a newspaper advertisement after 1870. The sitter’s appearance – tuxedo and bow-tie, slightly unkempt hair – strongly suggests he may have been connected with the performing arts: was he perhaps a visiting Italian orchestra maestro, or an opera singer?

From the North Melbourne Advertiser, 9 July 1873:

‘PORTRAIT and FRAME, 6d. Cartes, 5 s. per Doz., or Six Copies 6d. each, at BELL’S ROOMS, 155 SWANSTON ST., Between Little Bourke and Lonsdale streets, in sight of the hospital.’

Bell continued advertising in this newspaper, giving the same 155 Swanston Street address, up until the second half of 1876; from March 1877, he commenced advertising in The Herald with the address 157 Swanston. At some point in 1881 he took over the premises at 52 Bourke Street East which had previously been occupied by Mrs. Jane Abrey’s Portrait Rooms.

Provenance: Leonard Joel Auctions, Melbourne, (1990s? – accompanied by the auction house’s printed label noting the lot number as 265); Estate of Warwick Reeder (1950-2016), Melbourne, distinguished Australian art curator and passionate collector of nineteenth-century photography.