Photographer unknown. Panorama of Hong Kong Bay. 1880s. Panorama consisting of 4 linen-backed albumen prints, mounted on one side to board as leporello. Each ca. 19 x 26 cm (entire size: 19 x 108,5 cm).
This panorama presents a view over Hong Kong Bay taken from a high vantage point, likely Victoria Peak, looking across the harbor toward Kowloon.
Photographers: Baron Raimund von Stillfried-Rathenitz (1839-1911), Adolfo Farsari (1841-1898), Kusakabe Kimbei (1841-1934), Kozaburo Tamamura (1856-1923?), Kazumasa Ogawa (1860-1929), and others. People and landscapes of Japan. 1860s-1890s. 34 albumen prints, mounted to board. Each between 26 x 20,5 cm and 27,3 x 21,3 cm or reverse (mounts between 26 x 32 cm and 30,5 x 37,8 cm or reverse). Some captioned and numbered in the negative in lower margin.
This group of photographs presents a rich array of genre scenes and occupational portraits - including of geishas, samurai, actors, artisans, priests, street vendors, and sedan chair bearers - alongside numerous landscape views of Tokyo, Hakone, Nikko, Kyoto, Futamatagawa, and Nagasaki.
Photographers: Adolfo Farsari (1841-1898) and unknown. Japanese portraits. 1880s-1890s. 12 hand-colored albumen prints. Each ca. 13,2 x 9 cm or reverse. Some numbered and titled in the negative in the lower margin; most annotated and dated in blue ink on the verso.
The group comprises staged studio and outdoor genre portraits of Japanese men and women in traditional dress, including several portraits of geishas, a sumo wrestler, a kabuki actor holding a sword, a porter carrying a shrine, sedan chair bearers, and various domestic scenes.
Photographer: Kusakabe Kimbei (1841-1932) and others. Selected genre scenes. 1880s-1890s. 3 hand-colored albumen prints, 2 mounted to board/mat. Between 12 x 28,8 cm and 20 x 25,5 cm (mounts between 22 x 39,5 cm and 33 x 39,3 cm). 1 with number and title in the negative in lower right edge.
In 1885, Kusakabe Kimbei - formerly an assistant and colorist for Felice Beato - acquired Beato’s Yokohama studio from Baron Raimund von Stillfried-Rathenicz, who had purchased it in 1877. From 1885-1910, Kimbei emerged as one of Japan’s leading commercial photographers and played a pivotal role in shaping the visual identity of Meiji-era Japan, contributing significantly to the early history of photography in the country.
Photographer unknown. Selected images of Japan. Circa 1900. 9 albumen prints (8 hand-colored), mounted to both sides of board. Circa 18,8 x 24 cm and reverse.
Several images depict the harvesting of tea plantations, while others show wrestlers, women dining, and the bustling harbor of Hankou, China.
Photographer: Isidore van Kinsbergen (1821-1905). Views of Borobudur temple, Java. 1873. 3 albumen prints, mounted to card or board. Between 24,3 x 35,3 cm and 27,7 x 34 cm or reverse (mounts between 28,8 x 40 cm and 32,7 x 43 cm).
These photographs belong to the seminal corpus produced by Isidore van Kinsbergen in Java between 1863 and 1867, commissioned by the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences to document Hindu-Buddhist monuments, and later extended through his 1873 campaign at Borobudur. Trained as an engraver and set designer, he combined a theatrical sensibility with a systematic, almost archaeological approach. For many European audiences, images from the series “Oudheden van Java” provided a first encounter with Buddhist art, particularly through widely circulated views of Borobudur. Awarded a gold medal at the Vienna World Exhibition in 1873, his work was exhibited internationally and disseminated in albums issued under Dutch governmental authority.
Literatur: Gerda Theuns-de Boer and Saskia Asser. Isidore van Kinsbergen (1821–1905): Photo Pioneer and Theatre Maker in the Dutch East Indies. Zaltbommel: Uitgeverij Aprilis, 2005, ill. p. 271.
Photographers: Woodbury & Page (active 1857-1908). Views of Java and Batavia. 1860s-1870s. 50 albumen and collodion prints, mounted to card. Each ca. 17,7 x 24 cm or reverse (mounts 27 x 37 cm or reverse). Each annotated in black ink below the image on the mount. Presented in a contemporary half-leather clamshell box with marbled endpapers.
This album presents a structured visual survey of Batavia and its wider colonial environment, encompassing administrative sites such as the Stadthuis, the Paleis van Daendels, and Koningsplein, alongside private residences such as that of Ambrosius van Delden. It extends beyond the capital to Buitenzorg and its Botanical Garden, as well as to the volcanic landscapes of Mount Salak and significant cultural monuments such as Borobudur. These varied sites are situated within the geographic and institutional networks of nineteenth-century Dutch colonial presence in Java.
Photographers: Woodbury & Page (active 1857-1908). Views of Java. 1880s. 12 albumen prints, mounted to board. Each ca. 19 x 24 cm (mounts ca. 30,7 x 40 cm). Annotated in black ink below the image on the mount; most with the photographer’s studio stamp embossed in the lower right corner.
This lot comprises a group of views from Java, ranging from Batavia and nearby Buitenzorg (Bogor) to the Preanger Highlands, Cianjur (Tjandjoer), and the Mount Bromo region, including volcanic landscapes and the ruins of Mendut Temple. The group is complemented by genre and portrait studies depicting local dress and everyday activities, such as batik production and sarong weaving, offering a multifaceted view of life in the Dutch East Indies.
Kerguelen Islands
Expedition to the Kerguelen Islands aboard the S.M.S Gazelle
Los 4084
Schätzung
1.800€ (US$ 2,045)
Photographer: Hermann Bobzin (1832-1881). Expedition to the Kerguelen Islands aboard the S.M.S. Gazelle. 1874. 64 albumen prints, mounted to card. Each between 11 x 13,5 cm and 11 x 15,5 cm (mounts between 15,3 x 15,5 cm and 23,6 x 30,3 cm). Each annotated in blue ink below the image on the mount. Presented in original grey canvas portfolio with leather spine, embossed ornamentation, and gilt-embossed title on the front cover: “Photographische Aufnahmen der Deutschen Expedition nach der Kerguelen Insel zur Beobachtung des Vorübergangs der Venus vor der Sonnenscheibe am 9. December 1874,” together with several maps and nautical charts.
This group of photographs documents the German scientific expedition to the Kerguelen Islands in 1874, organized to observe the transit of Venus on 9 December. The images depict expedition members and officers of the naval corvette S.M.S. Gazelle, which transported the party to the subantarctic archipelago, shown at leisure, exploring, and hunting. Further views record temporary encampments - including crew housing, observation platforms, and a portable photographic darkroom—alongside the stark rocky landscape and the island’s flora and fauna.
Konstantinou, Dimitrios
Sculptural fragments from the Acropolis
Los 4085
Schätzung
1.200€ (US$ 1,364)
Sculptural fragments from the Acropolis. 1860s. 6 albumen prints, mounted to board. Each between 20 x 26 cm and 27 x 38,5 cm or reverse (mounts between 23,5 x 31 cm and 32 x 47,5 cm or reverse).
A rare group of early photographs documenting sculptural fragments from the Acropolis shortly after their excavation. The images include the Moschophoros (Calf-Bearer) and the Kritios Boy, both shown in their fragmentary state following exhumation, as well as representations of Dionysos and a Dionysiac relief (now in the collection of the Louvre). Several plates depict sections of the Parthenon frieze, including processional figures and horsemen.
Konstantinou, Dimitrios and Petros Moraites
Views of the Acropolis
Los 4086
Schätzung
1.200€ (US$ 1,364)
Views of the Acropolis. 1860s. 6 albumen prints, mounted to board. Each between ca. 24 x 32 cm and 27 x 38 cm or reverse (mounts 32,5 x 42,5 cm or reverse). Most signed in the negative in lower margin.
The photographs in this lot include panoramic views of the Acropolis hill with the Parthenon, the Propylaea, and the Temple of Athena Nike, as well as the Odeon of Herodes Atticus at its southern slope. Closer studies focus on architectural and sculptural details, notably sections of the Parthenon frieze and other relief fragments, forming a coherent early photographic record of the Acropolis and its classical remains.
Literatur: Dorothea Ritter. Im Lichte des Helios: Griechenland und frühe Photographien aus der Sammlung Siegert. Berlin: Umschau/Braus, 1999, ill. p. 64;
Claire L. Lyons, John K. Papadopoulos, Lindsey S. Stewart, and Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, eds. Antiquity & Photography: Early Views of Ancient Mediterranean Sites. London: Thames & Hudson, 2005, ill. p. 122.
Views of Hamburg. 1905. 7 large-format albumen prints, mounted to board. Each ca. 23,5 x 31,7 cm (mounts ca. 32 x 40 cm). Each embossed below the image on the mount with the photographer’s name “Photograph G. Koppmann & Co. Hamburg” and dated “1905.”
Georg Koppmann ranks among the foremost photographers documenting Hamburg’s urban landscape in the second half of the 19th century. Renowned for his precise large-format views, Koppmann systematically recorded the city’s streets, waterways, and architecture at a moment of rapid modernization.
Literatur: Will Keller. Hamburg in frühen Photographien, 1848-1888: Sammlung Bokelberg. Hamburg: Verlag der Sammlung Bokelberg, 1980.
MacPherson, Robert
View of the Pantheon from the Piazza delle Rotunda
Los 4088
Schätzung
800€ (US$ 909)
View of the Pantheon from the Piazza della Rotonda. Ca. 1860. Large-format gold-toned albumen print, mounted to card. 29 x 36 cm (mount 47,5 x 61,7 cm). Annotated in pencil in the lower right corner; with the photographer’s blindstamp in the lower margin of the mount and the negative number “237” inscribed in pencil.
Robert Macpherson was one of the leading photographers active in Rome in the mid-19th century, known for his views of ancient ruins and Renaissance monuments. A Scottish artist by training, he settled in Rome in the early 1850s and established a successful practice, working first with paper negatives and later with the albumen process. His photographs are distinguished by their clarity, rich tonal range, and carefully structured compositions, emphasizing architectural form. Produced for scholars, artists, and Grand Tour travelers, his prints were widely collected and often issued with printed captions and numbering, reflecting a systematic approach to documenting Rome’s monuments.
Michel, Carl
Die Gebärdensprache dargestellt für Schauspieler sowie für Maler und Bildhauer
Los 4089
Schätzung
2.000€ (US$ 2,273)
Die Gebärdensprache dargestellt für Schauspieler sowie für Maler und Bildhauer. Vol. I Text & Vol. II Text brochure with plate titles and 94 cartes de visite photos mounted to 25 plates. 25 x 18 cm. 2 contemporary brown canvas volumes with gilt-stamped cover. Cologne, M. DuMont-Schauberg, 1886.
Carl (Karl) Michel studied medicine and established a successful medical practice in Cologne, while pursuing an interest in classical theater and occasionally appearing in smaller roles. In 1892, having secured a stable financial foundation, he decided to devote himself entirely to acting, a transition that also led to the publication of the present work. In addition to extensive text on acting exercises in volume I, the second volume includes 94 photographic images showing Michel in a variety of poses, facial expressions, and dramatic gestures.
Photographer unknown. View of Moscow. 1870s. Albumen print, mounted to board. 28 x 43,5 cm.
This photograph presents a panoramic view of Moscow in the 1870s, taken from Vshivaya Hill and overlooking the Moskva River and the lower Yauza district. In the foreground, the wooden Ustinsky Bridge spans the river, while barges, warehouses, and tightly packed residential buildings emphasize the city’s pre-industrial riverside economy. Beigegeben: Two mounted albumen prints of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia.
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Galerie Bassenge
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© 2026 Galerie Gerda Bassenge
Galerie Bassenge
Erdener Str. 5A
14193 Berlin
Öffnungszeiten:
Montag bis Donnerstag, 10–18 Uhr,
Freitag, 10–16 Uhr
Telefon: +49 30 8938029-0
Fax: +49 30 8918025
E-Mail: info (at) bassenge.com
Impressum
Datenschutzerklärung
© 2026 Galerie Gerda Bassenge