John Beasly Greene

salt print from a waxed-paper negative, matted, framed, 1856

Thackrey & Robertson, San Francisco

Acquired by the Quillan Company from the above, 1989

Jill Quasha, The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photographs (New York, 1991), pl. 40 (this print)

 

Grading this salt print on a scale of 1 to 10 - 10 being a salt print that has deep brown dark tones and highlights that retain all of their original detail - this prints rates a 10. The print's dark tones are a deep purple/brown. The print is untrimmed, and the negative edges are visible on left, right, and top borders. The print is in excellent condition, and delivers a wonderful amount of detail throughout. There are the remnants of two paper tape hinges on the reverse of the print along the top edge, and these are not visible on the front of the photograph.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The photograph offered here was taken during an archeological and photographic expedition to Algeria in 1855, where John Beasly Greene photographed the excavation of the second century B. C. funerary monument, 'Tombeau de la Chrétienne.'  The large mausoleum of Numidian king Juba in North Africa was termed the 'Tomb of the Christian' for the cross-like pattern that decorated its false door.  It is this false door that Greene photographed on 5 April 1856, after the second site excavation was completed. 

John Beasly Greene scholar William Stapp locates only three prints of this image in public collections.  The first is from an album of Greene's Algerian photographs documenting the excavation of 'Tombeau de la Chrétienne,' in the collection of the Institut de France in Paris.  The second is owned by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and a third is in the photography collection at The Museum of Modern Art.  In the Algerian album of Greene's work in the Institut de France, this image is captioned, Vue de fausse porte du Nord le 5 avril 1856 á la fin des travaux de la 2e exploration (view of the false north door at the end of the second round of excavation, April 5, 1856).

The Boston-born son of a banker and a founding member of the Société Française de Photographie, Greene was perhaps the first archaeologist to use photography.  His interests in photography and archaeology took him to the ruins and excavated sites in North Africa and the Middle East.  By 1853, Greene had mastered Gustave Le Gray's new waxed-paper process, which he would utilize on the first of his trips to Egypt and Nubia in 1854.  In late 1855, the year before his death, he traveled to a site excavation in Algeria, where the present photograph was taken.  Greene returned briefly to Paris in 1856 before returning to Egypt once again for what would be his last trip.  The photograph of 'Tombeau de la Chrétienne' offered here, made in the year of the photographer's untimely death at age 24, possesses a lyrical beauty not often associated with documentary photographs of archeological sites.