Anonymous American Photographer

quarter-plate ambrotype, with a modern seal, in a half-case, framed, Buhl Collection and Guggenheim Museum exhibition labels on the reverse, 1850s-60s

Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, 1998

New York, Guggenheim Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection, June - September 2004, and 4 other international venues through 2007 (see Appendix 1)

Jennifer Blessing, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Guggenheim Foundation, 2004), pp. 171 and 252 (this ambrotype)

This ambrotype is remarkable not only for its subject matter, but for its fine quality. The clarity and detail of this image are truly impressive. Great care has been taken with the gilt-detailing on the practitioner's ring, as well as on the buttons of the subjects' shirt fronts. The sophistication of the composition is perhaps most evident in the parallel alignment of the two subjects' hands, each with the index finger extended; this may have served to suggest a spiritual or mental alignment, as well as a physical one. The surface of the image appears unblemished. The plate is backed with lacquer, and is secured to its mat with a modern Filmoplast seal.
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