Photographer: Joseph Daziaro (1831-1892), attributed to. Large panoramic view of Moscow. 1880s. Hand-colored, two-part panoramic albumen print. 39 x 87 cm.
Active as a publisher and photographer in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Italian-born Joseph (Giuseppe) Daziaro was among the leading producers of photographic views in mid-19th-century Russia. Originally a lithographic publishing house, the firm expanded into photography in the 1850s-60s, issuing albums and views aimed at travelers and collectors. The present two-part panorama offers a sweeping view across central Moscow from an elevated vantage point, encompassing landmarks such as the Kremlin walls, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and numerous church domes.
Portraits by and of Nadar. 1855-1863. 4 albumen prints on carte-de-visite mounts with decorative borders. Each ca. 8,5 x 5,5 cm (mounts 10,2 x 6,2 cm). Photographer’s initials embossed on the mount in the lower left corner; with the photographer’s “35 Boulevard des Capucines” studio information printed in red ink on the verso.
This group comprises four carte-de-visite portraits issued by the studio of Nadar. Two photographs show self-portraits of Nadar seated in a suspended balloon basket, a playful studio staging alluding to his fascination with aeronautics and his pioneering experiments in aerial photography. Another photograph is a studio portrait of Alexandre Dumas in a composed half-length pose, while the fourth depicts George Sand, reproduced after a daguerreotype by Pierre-Ambroise Richebourg.
Portrait of George Sand. 1864. Woodburytype, printed before 1876, mounted to card with decorative border. 23,7 x 19 cm (mount 34,5 x 26,3 cm). "Galerie Contemporaine, 126, boulevard de Magenta", "Phot. Goubil et Ce" and "Cliché Nadar, rue d'Anjou-St-Honoré, 51" copyright stamp in lower margin of the mount.
Nadar’s mid-19th-century portraits of George Sand convey the writer’s commanding intellect and unconventional persona with remarkable sensitivity. Rendered with quiet assurance, she appears with a distinctive, androgynous elegance that reflects both her literary authority and her defiance of social norms. Through restrained composition and subtle lighting, Nadar focuses on her steady gaze and introspective expression, achieving the psychological depth that defines his finest work. Beigegeben: With a portrait of Émile Zola by Étienne Carjat (1828-1906) from the same series.
Portrait of Paul Nadar. 1868. Photographic miniature on enamel (Procédé Deroche), in a brass frame. 5,5 x 4,5 cm (frame 8 x 7 cm). Signed “Nadar,” dated “1868,” and annotated “procédé Deroche” in ink on the verso.
Portraits of his son Paul occupy a special place within Nadar’s oeuvre, combining the technical refinement of his studio practice with a rare sense of intimacy. Here, the young sitter - who would later succeed his father - appears with a softness and immediacy that departs from more formal portrait conventions, revealing Nadar’s sensitivity to expression and character. Executed using the procédé Deroche, developed around 1860, the image is transferred onto enamel, resulting in a highly durable and finely detailed miniature. Such works were relatively uncommon and often intended as cherished keepsakes, making the present portrait both a demonstration of Nadar’s technical versatility and a personal memento of his only son.
Provenienz: From the collection of Gérard Lévy; Millon, Paris, 20 December 2016, lot 19.
Views of Turkestan. 1890. 55 gelatin silver prints. Each ca. 16,2 x 12,4 cm or reverse. Some annotated in pencil on the verso; a few numbered in the negative in the lower margin.
These photographs form part of Paul Nadar’s work from his 1890 journey through Turkestan, undertaken in connection with the Tashkent Exhibition and the promotion of the Trans-Caspian railway, completed by the Russian Army between 1886-1888. Traveling across Samarkand, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, he produced an extensive visual record of the region, reportedly comprising around 1,800 images that include landscapes, architectural monuments, portraits, and scenes of daily life. The expedition also served to demonstrate the capabilities of new photographic technologies, particularly the newly developed Kodak Eastman Film and the Nadar Détective box camera, which allowed him to capture spontaneous, unposed moments. Upon his return to Paris, Nadar actively promoted this work through lectures, publications, and exhibitions, including presentations at the Société de Géographie as well as displays at several World’s Fairs until 1896, contributing to contemporary European perceptions of Central Asia.
Photographers: Constantin von Ettingshausen (1826-1897) and Alois Pokorny (1836-1886). Plant studies. 1855-56. 10 nature prints (Naturselbstdrucke) on heavy paper. Each ca. 58 x 41 cm. From the publication Physiotypia plantarum austriacarum: Der Naturselbstdruck in seiner Anwendung auf die Gefässpflanzen des österreichischen Kaiserstaates, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Nervation in den Flächenorganen der Pflanzen. Vienna: K.K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1855-56.
Constantin von Ettingshausen and Alois Pokorny, two leading Austrian botanists of the nineteenth century, employed the technique of nature printing (Naturselbstdruck) to document the flora of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with exceptional precision. In this process, actual plant specimens were pressed into soft lead plates to create printing matrices, allowing even the finest details, such as venation and surface texture, to be transferred with remarkable fidelity. Ettingshausen and Pokorny’s work represents one of the most accomplished applications of nature printing in the nineteenth century, bridging the disciplines of botany, printmaking, and early reproductive technology.
Photographers: Axel Lindahl (1841-1906), James Valentine (1815-1880), Knud Knudsen (1832-1915), and unknown. Travel album with views of Norway and Spitzbergen. 1880s-1890s. 33 albumen prints, collodion paper prints and collotypes, mounted to album boards. Most ca. 17 x 23 cm, some smaller. Most with the photographer’s name or initials, title, and number in the lower edge of the negative. Bound in a half-leather album with gilt-stamped title "Reise nach Spitzbergen" on the front cover.
This attractive album contains views of Norway showing cities, harbor scenes, dramatic landscapes with waterfalls and valleys. The views show Tromsö, Romsdal (glacier), Naes, Varden in Molde, Hardangerfjord, Botnan (Rogaland), Lower Leerfos waterfall, Tokedalen, Telemark, Dalen and others. Also includes three family portraits of Sami people and their dwellings.
Photographers: Félix Bonfils (1821-1885), Tancrède Dumas (1830-1905), and others. Ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire. 1870s. 8 albumen prints, mounted to board. Each between ca. 13,8 x 10 cm and 22 x 16,4 cm or reverse (mounts ca. 40,5 x 30,5 cm or reverse). Most numbered and titled in the negative along the lower edge.
This group of photographs presents a series of ethnographic studio portraits depicting men and women from across the late Ottoman empire, including western Anatolia, Greater Syria, and Palestine. Shown in traditional dress, the sitters range from Zeybek fighters and Bedouin figures to Levantine villagers and veiled women, with costumes, weapons, and domestic attributes carefully staged to convey regional identity.
Photographer: P. Loubère (life dates unknown). Album Photographique des Ruines de Paris: Collection de tous les monuments et édifices incendiés et détruits par la Commune de Paris. 1871. 21 albumen prints, mounted to album pages. Each ca. 9,5 x 12,7 cm (mounts 21,2 x 26,8 cm). Each titled in the negative in the lower left margin. Presented in a red canvas album with gilt-stamped title and decorative elements.
This album presents a systematic photographic survey of the destruction in Paris following the suppression of the Commune in May 1871, including major sites such as the Hôtel de Ville, the Tuileries, the Palais de Justice, and the Place Vendôme with its toppled column. The views range from monumental façades to detailed scenes of devastation, recording gutted interiors, skeletal structures, and debris-filled streets, sometimes animated by figures and carts. Together, the images articulate both the urban and military dimensions of the conflict, underscoring the scale and immediacy of the destruction. The album also includes a composite plate of oval portrait medallions depicting leading figures of the Commune.
Views of the United States. 1890s-early 1900s. 78 photochromes, mounted to gilt-edged album pages. Each 17,5 x 22,7 cm or reverse (mounts 27,5 x 35 cm). Numbered, titled, and with copyright information in the lower margin. Bound in a full leather album with a gilt-embossed decorative border.
This album of photochromes presents views of San Francisco and the Bay Area, numerous sites in Yellowstone National Park, and scenes from Chicago, Niagara Falls, and New York. It also includes a portrait of Native Americans and views of railway transportation, offering a broad visual survey of the United States at the turn of the twentieth century.
Views of Tunisia and Algeria. 1890s-early 1900s. 100 photochromes, mounted to album pages. Each 16,4 x 22 cm or reverse (mounts 27 x 34 cm). Numbered, titled, and with copyright information in the lower margin. Bound in two full-leather albums with gilt-embossed titles and gilt tooling.
This album presents views of major cities in Tunisia and Algeria, including Tunis, Kairouan, Constantine, Biskra, Sidi Okba, and Algiers, alongside numerous portraits depicting a range of ethnic groups.
Photographer unknown. View of Vila Nova de Gaia, seen from Porto. Circa 1870. Albumen print, mounted to board. 25,2 x 40,2 cm (mount ca. 33,2 x 45,2 cm).
This panoramic view shows Vila Nova de Gaia as seen from Porto, with the Dom Luís I bridge spanning the Douro River in the foreground, and riverside houses and boats lining the quay.
Raoult, Ivan Petrovic
Peoples of Georgia and the Caucasus Region
Los 4103
Schätzung
3.000€ (US$ 3,409)
Peoples of Georgia and the Caucasus Region. Circa 1878. 14 albumen prints. Each ca. 24 x 20 cm or reverse. Each numbered, titled, and dated by another hand in pencil on the verso.
Jean Raoult (Ivan Petrovich Raoult), a French-born photographer active in the Russian Empire, operated a studio in Odessa from the 1860s to the 1880s and produced extensive ethnographic studies across its diverse regions. In the late 1870s he published the album Collection de types des Peuples de Russie, Roumanie et Bulgarie, comprising over 200 images, and later assembled albums on the landscapes, peoples, and antiquities of the Caucasus, Crimea, and the Volga region. His practice combined artistic, scientific, and documentary aims, encompassing military campaigns during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78) and expeditions with Prof. N. P. Kondakov (1879-82) through the Caucasus, Georgia, Armenia, Mount Athos, and Palestine in search of early Christian antiquities.
Working largely in staged outdoor settings, Raoult emphasized costume, weaponry, and posture to construct typological images aligned with contemporary ethnographic and imperial frameworks. The present group reflects this approach, depicting Georgian and Caucasian subjects in compositions ranging from formal portraits of armed men to more informal scenes of villagers, musicians, laborers, and women in traditional dress. Awarded prizes at the Paris Geographic Exhibition (1875) and the Exposition Universelle (1878), his photographs remain a vivid record of the Russian Empire’s cultural diversity in the late 19th century.
Peoples of Ukraine. Circa 1878. 24 albumen prints. Each between 20,5 x 15,5 cm and 24 x 20 cm or reverse. Each numbered, titled, and dated by another hand in pencil on the verso.
The photographs depict a range of rural populations from the Ukrainian territories of the Russian Empire, including peasants, Cossack-type figures, and village elders, as well as individuals of Tatar origin from the southern steppe regions. The group reveals a variety of regional “types,” from Central and Eastern populations in heavy sheepskin coats and fur hats to figures in steppe-influenced attire, including striped robes and turban-like headwear, suggestive of Black Sea or Crimean Tatar traditions. Differences in costume - particularly embroidered garments and women’s dress - further point to Central and Western Ukrainian traditions, highlighting the ethnic and cultural diversity of both Slavic and Turkic communities in the late 19th century.
Raoult, Ivan Petrovic
Rural Communities of the Central Russian Empire
Los 4105
Schätzung
3.000€ (US$ 3,409)
Rural Communities of the Central Russian Empire. Circa 1878. 17 albumen prints. Each between ca. 22 x 17 cm and 24,5 x 20 cm or reverse. Each numbered, titled, and dated by another hand in pencil on the verso.
The photographs depict rural communities across central and southwestern provinces of the Russian Empire, including Tula, Orel, Kursk, Tambov, Simbirsk, and Poltava. While some images present posed ethnographic “types,” others situate their subjects within everyday village life, showing men and women resting, gathering, or engaged in seasonal agricultural labor. Traditional costume and vernacular architecture, particularly log-built houses and thatched roofs, firmly locate the scenes within late 19th-century East Slavic peasant culture.
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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