Carleton E. Watkins

mammoth-plate albumen print, mounted, annotated in an unidentified hand in pencil on the reverse, matted, 1867

Other prints of this image:

James Alinder, Carleton E. Watkins: Photographs of the Columbia River and Oregon (Carmel: The Friends of Photography in Association with the Weston Gallery, 1979, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 44

Peter E. Palmquist, Carleton E. Watkins: Photographer of the American West (Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum, 1983, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 34

Douglas R. Nickel, Carleton Watkins: The Art of Perception (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1999, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 71

Weston J. Naef and James N. Wood, Era of Exploration: The Rise of Landscape Photography in the American West, 1860-1885 (Albright-Knox Art Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 29

Amy Rule, ed., Carleton Watkins: Selected Texts and Bibliography (Boston, 1993), pl. 7

Maria Morris Hambourg, Pierre Apraxine, et al., The Waking Dream: Photography's First Century: Selections from the Gilman Paper Company Collection (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 122

Grading this albumen print on a scale of 1 to 10 - a 10 being an albumen print with deep brown dark tones and highlights that retain all of their original detail - the dark tones rate a 10 or higher, and the highlights a 9. The print has a wide range of lovely brown and cream tones. The highlights have darkened slightly. As visible in our catalogue illustration, the tones in the bottom left quadrant, in the darker tones of the print, are noticeably mottled. In raking light, a number of very faint handling creases, likely having occurred prior to mounting, are visible along the edges of the print, most noticeably at the bottom edge. The photograph is mounted to a buff-colored board, which is slightly age-darkened and has significant darkening at the edges on the reverse.
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.