E-Photo
Issue #210  12/21/2014
 
I Photo Central Holds Holiday Sale through Jan. 31st; Charles Schwartz Offers Two Major Collections--Dogs and Relievo Ambros
Carleton Watkins, California Railroad Ferry, in holiday sale.  Just one of the thousands of images now on sale.
Carleton Watkins, California Railroad Ferry, in holiday sale. Just one of the thousands of images now on sale.

Special I Photo Central Holiday Image Sale

Some of the photography dealers and galleries on I Photo Central are sponsoring a special holiday photography sale on thousands of images. The sale will run from now until January 31. No item will be available at the sale price after that time. Discounts from 20% and up off normal prices can be found during the sale, so take advantage of these special rates during this special sale period. These are final net prices and no other discounts of any kind will be made. Sales tax, VAT and/or shipping/insurance will apply. You can sort by price (high to low; low to high), by alpha, and by most recent additions to the web site. Just go here to check out the sale: http://www.iphotocentral.com/common/result.php/32/HolidaySale1/0.


Dealer Charles Schwartz is also offering two separate collections for sale:

Dog Collection–19th Century Cased Images

A dog is a man's best friend…The special bond between humans and canines has been documented throughout history and this collection shows a wonderful variety of portraits of dogs, as well as people with their dogs. From hunting partner to beloved pet, dogs hold a special place in the lives of their masters. Dogs also posed a particular challenge for early photographers, for whom a moving animal was not an ideal subject. Enjoy this unique selection of 76 excellent dog photographs, which you can see (and buy) here: http://www.charles-schwartz.com/dog-collection. Please contact Charles Schwartz Ltd. for collection details and price: cms@cs-photo.com.

and

The Relievo Collection

The 'relievo' ambrotype was introduced by a Glasgow photographer named Urie in 1854. An ambrotype was made in the usual way, but only the subject matter was varnished black (on the back side), and the whole background was carefully scraped away. Behind the picture was placed a piece of glass backed by white card. The photograph, being not quite in contact with the backing, cast a slight shadow on it, causing the figure to stand out in relief. It was doubtless due to the popularity of stereoscopic pictures that the idea of introducing relief by an 'air space' between picture and background was revived. In 1857 Thomas C. Lawrence, a Greenwich photographer, introduced relievo portraits in England.

The relievo technique was rather uncommon. Photo studios might have used this process in order to distinguish themselves from the competition, or offer a more unique product.

In this collection of 35 cased images there are a few examples of a particularly rare version of the relievo technique; a double ambrotype, which is a relievo ambrotype portrait mounted on top of a second ambrotype that serves as a background image. This was a 19th-century version of super-imposing one photograph on top of another one, achieving not only a three-dimensional quality, but the potential to give a studio portrait a specialized background. Additional variations on the relievo technique include portraits with hand-painted or other types of decorative backgrounds. While relievos are almost always ambrotypes, this collection includes one very unique daguerreotype portrait in which the background has been painted gold, isolating just the figure to give the illusion of relief. To see (and/or buy) this group go here: http://www.charles-schwartz.com/relievo-collection. Please contact Charles Schwartz Ltd. for collection details and price: cms@cs-photo.com.