Portrait on leather from c1862 courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Toronto. In the late 1800s, prints were made in a variety of ways on many different materials. Pannotypes used a process to convert Ambrotype photos from glass to patent leather. The above link offers some details.
The article was published in April, 2018 and credited Tania Passafiume with assistance from Shannon Perry. Shannon has spoken at the PHSC a few times including the November 2011 Toronto meeting.
In our journal issue 25-3, David Mattison’s copyright 1999 article discusses the leather portraits discovered by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The article, “G. R. Fardon’s Portraits on Patent Leather at the London International Exhibition, 1862” records this discovery and shows many of the photos.
David begins, “To say that my heart skipped a beat would not be exaggerating the effect that this e-mail [from the V and M] had on me. I responded the next day expressing a gut feeling that “I’m fairly certain these are the ‘Portraits & Views on patent leather’ taken by George Robinson Fardon late of San Francisco and, at the time of their international exhibition, one of the first commercial photographers in Victoria, British Columbia.”
“Even though he had not seen the original display board “for several years”, Mark had convinced himself that the wording of the display said the photographs were from Prince Edward Island. Having been invited to contribute an article to Photographic Canadiana on the find, Mark asked that I pinch hit for him.
“The Victoria and Albert Museum discovery also neatly coincides with the publication by the Fraenkel Gallery (San Francisco) and Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc. (New York) of San Francisco Album: Photographs of the Most Beautiful Views and Public Buildings.
“Well-known California photo historian Peter E. Palmquist and National Archives of Canada archivist/photo historian Dr. Joan M. Schwartz provide detailed accounts of Fardon’s career in San Francisco and Victoria. Their work and that of the other two essayists, Rodger C. Birt and Marvin R. Nathan, correct the impression left 22 years ago by Robert A. Sobieszek’s introduction to the Dover reprint of the San Francisco Album that nothing was known of Fardon.
“Dr. Schwartz’s scathing review of the Dover reprint in Afterimage (December 1978) set the record straight regarding Fardon’s origins and fate. The Fraenkel and Kraus book is an elegant, fitting tribute to Fardon’s work as a landscape and portrait photographer.”
Members read all of David’s article in the pdf for issue 25-3 on the free members only DVD/thumb drive. To join, see MEMBERSHIP above or Membership at right. Email any membership questions to Lilianne at member@sympatico.ca.
Join us at the Fall Fair this Sunday. You may not find a pannotype, but you will find lots of interesting items to add to your collection! Se the poster pinned above or read our PHSC News newsletter 25-9 for details.
