Antique Photo of Artist in Studio

I found 2 photos that I think are very interesting and am wanting any information about the time period, if it seems American? Is the military man on horse French? I thought the light bulbs may help to date it. Thanks so much!

 

Oddly, the painting seems to be of Napoleon at Waterloo, talking to a goose girl.

 

Those are good crisp photos. Whoever took the pictures had good equipment and knew what he/she was doing.

The fan sitting on the floor of that closet might help with the date as well. The foot looks pretty distinctive. Here's a site to check, if you have the patience.

http://www.fancollectors.org/

 

Thank you. They really are crisp photos and are 5x7. My hands shake when I take photos, so I'm glad you can tell. I'll check out the fan site. Thank for your time.

 

It looked Dutch to me because of the windmill, but there are windmills in Belgium. Waterloo is in Belgium. Napoleon built a fort in Oostende. We've been there. It's possibly something to do with his campaign there.

 

Great, thanks for the info thelmasstuf. I couldn't tell for sure if that was a windmill in the background and the man's helmut looked French.

 

I think he is the photographer and it is a self portrait.
I don't see lots of canvases, paints, slop on the floor to indicate he is a painter.

I see extremely clean, which was/is necessary for an operable photo lab.
First picture - that metal rack on the right looks like a dryer with 4x5 negatives hanging.

Second picture, the sliding doors are the darkroom. On the floor, leaning against the door, a wash pan for rinse. Looks like an enlarger light.
The clothesline would be for hanging prints to dry.

He would be closed in the darkroom for at least an hour to develope and print, possibly longer, therefore the necessity for the fan.

Or possibly, he is in the photograper's studio to have his portrait taken with the picture. But if that were the case, there is too much of the studio in the print, and not enough focus on the man and the picture.

I agree the fan could be helpful in dating the time period.

 

6rivets, thanks for your idea. I am wondering the same.

Pat, Now I don't know what to think. I see the drying rack with something hanging. I don't know enough about photography to recognize much else. There is a paper cutter, with a long handle on the table in first photo, so I guess that could be for photos.

I don't see the rinsing pan or the enlarger light, tho I don't know that I would recognize an enlarger light, LOL.

IF it is a photography studio, I don't know why the huge easel, with a palette hanging on it would be there. The painting also looks like it is in a spot where the lighting would be optimal for painting, with the natural light coming in the window.

Thanks so much for your thoughts. I hope some more people will weigh in.

 

I have to agree with pat. But I felt it was possible that the painter was in the studio across the hall and he might have dragged the painting over for a 'free' portrait and the photographer thought, what the heck, I may as well take a picture of my studio while I'm at it.

 

Pat, You may be right. This photo was also in the group I bought. It looks like a photographer's studio with different "settings" for taking portraits. So, perhaps the person owning the photos had an interest in photography (?). The painting still puzzles me. I would assume the man beside it is the artist, but would he be the photographer? Curiouser and curiouser.

 

Sorry, forgot the photo

 

I like this photo mainly because it's Victorian, but without the clutter!

 

I don't think it's a self-portrait. How did he trigger the camera? It could be a photographer's studio. That wooden rack with all the narrow horizontal shelves looks to be a print drying rack, but I don't see any sign of a press... so not intaglio prints. How's this for a conjecture: the artist took his painting to be photographed for reproduction and had the photographer take his picture with the painting at the same time.

 

Whoops, more got in there before me.

In the 3rd photo you just posted,
That is a large adjustable lens camera on left with the black material for the photographer to stand under to adjust the focus.

 

moreotherstuff, I think that is as good as guess as any! Thanks.

 

Yes Pat, I saw that so I felt pretty confident in saying the 3rd photo was a photography studio I was just adding it to say the person I bought the photos from, must have had an interest in photography.

 

Not to be too simplistic, but isn't there a chance that the bloke in the first set of (2) photos is BOTH a painter and a photographer and justifiably proud of his studio?

 

hahaha, Mansons you may be onto something!

 

The knob and tube wiring pretty well stopped being installed in the '30s. It can still be found in a few old buildings.

 

Thanks, Terry.