Two portraits of elderly couples, one taken in a garden, the other in the studio. Gawler, South Australia, late 1890s.

I. Couple seated in a garden. Sepia-tone gelatin silver print photograph, cabinet card format, 166 x 112 mm; recto of round-cornered mount with silver-embossed imprint of ‘Marchant’s Studio, Gawler, S.A.’; verso blank; both the print and mount are in excellent condition.

II. Couple in a studio with elaborate painted backdrop. Gelatin silver print photograph, cabinet card format, 166 x 112 mm; recto of square-cornered mount with silver-embossed imprint of ‘Marchant’s Studio, Gawler, S.A.’; verso blank; the print has a tiny spot of silverfishing at top left corner, otherwise print and mount are immaculate.

A highly contrasting pair of portraits when juxtaposed – but they were both taken by the same photographer, around the same time!

In 1897 Philip Marchant returned to Gawler, South Australia from Tasmania, where he had spent a decade working as a photographer in Latrobe. Marchant is probably best known for his famous double self-portrait taken around 1865.