[MELBOURNE] Stereoview of “Smuggler’s Cave”, Beaumaris, late 1890s.

Stereoscopic gelatin silver print photograph, each image approximately 82 x 71 mm, on plain grey mount 90 x 177 mm; captioned in the negative: ‘Smuggler’s Cave, Beaumaris’; verso with the wet stamp of ‘London Amateur Photographic Stores. Little Collins St. … W. Kett’, along with the initials of the original owner; the prints are in very good condition; minor staining to the verso of the mount.

In the late 1890s, William Kett ran a photographic equipment store in the city that was aimed at the burgeoning amateur market. Interestingly, though, in addition to the technical side of the business, he and his assistant operator(s) also produced stereoscopic views of Melbourne beauty spots which were presumably sold through the Little Collins Street shop. This is conveniently illustrated by the following two advertisements Kett placed in The Age, 30 March 1898:

‘PHOTOGRAPHY.— Wanted, good Printer and Toner; gelatino-chloride chiefly used. W. Kett, Amateur Photo Stores, Little Collins-st.’

‘PHOTOGRAPHY.— Wanted, a first class outdoor Operator, good address. W. Kett, photographic importer, 263 Little Collins-st.’