[ANONYME], Paris

Lot 187
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Estimation :
600 - 650 EUR
[ANONYME], Paris
Set of 62 original photographs of Paris with scenery and handwritten illustrations Belle Époque (circa 1900). 12 boards. S.l., ca 1900. 35 x 26 cm (boards), 8 x 11 or 7 x 10 cm (photos). Set of 62 original photographs on paper, spread over 12 plates, titled and illustrated by hand, ink and gouache. The photographs depict Parisian streets and monuments, statues and gardens, metropolitan stations and trains, stations and bridges, barges and trains. Some of them refer to festive events in the capital, such as the election of the Queen of Queens during the Mid-Lent Carnival or the Gingerbread Fair (ancestor of the Throne Fair). The transformations of urban planning are mentioned, for example through a snapshot of the work on the Passy footbridge (future Bir-Hakeim bridge). Many illustrations also adorn the plates: medieval-inspired decorations, coats of arms, ornate titles, friezes, male or female characters (in black and white), a superb greyette (ink and gouache). On the back of the plates, 7 portraits of personalities made in ink: Bougainville, Vernet, Charlet, Madame Roland, La Bruyère, Madame de Sévigné, P. de Ségur. Very interesting ensemble, which reflects a certain social diffusion of photographic practice - among the bourgeois elite - at the end of the 19th century, in line with the evolution of techniques, both in terms of photography and printing processes. Equipped with equipment that is increasingly easy to use, many amateurs immortalize, as here, the small and large moments of daily life, constituting souvenir albums and private collections that consecrate the now essential role of the image in Belle Epoque culture. The author of these photographs, who lacked neither humour nor talent, also enriched his craftwork with other aesthetic elements: graphic decorations and ornaments from the world of books (imitating fleurons, banners, culs-de-lampe, chapter separations, etc.), "classical" drawings (landscapes, portraits), inspired by th
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