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. This identification, and the dating of the photograph to the late 1870s, are derived from the fact that the photograph has an identical mount to other photographs from the same source, which bear the E.H. Dufty studio imprint.

Born in England and each migrating to Australia during the mid nineteenth century, the four Dufty brothers were to make a substantial contribution to the photographic record of indigenous peoples of Fiji and New Caledonia. The present photograph is likely to be the work of Edward Henry Dufty (1850-1905), who arrived in Melbourne in 1865. Along with his brother Walter, who came to Australia in 1871, Edward settled in New Caledonia in the early 1870s, where the pair set up a portrait studio. Their brothers Frank and Alfred established themselves in Fiji from 1871. At their studio in Noumea, Edward and Walter devoted much attention to photographing the indigenous Kanak people of New Caledonia. After 1875, when Walter left New Caledonia for Norfolk Island, Edward continued to run the Noumea studio by himself; the studio imprint on portraits from the late 1870s bears his name alone.