Description:

Samuel Bourne (British, 1834-1912), Government House, Calcutta, India, Albumen Photo, c. 1870s , signed and numbered '1706' lower right, pencil inscribed '1706' (crossed out), '26' (crossed out in red), and '25' in red on back, together with a handwritten label 'Government House, Calcutta', unmounted.

Born in Muccleston on the Shropshire-Staffordshire border, Samuel Bourne began his career as a bank clerk, but as early as 1853 photographed in the Lake District, north Wales, and the Scottish Highlands. In 1857 he abandoned banking for photography. In 1859 the Nottingham Photographic Society mounted an exhibition of some 2,000 prints, including Bourne's. In the 1860s Bourne traveled extensively across the Indian sub-continent photographing landscapes, buildings, and historical places. During this period, he went into partnership with Charles Shepherd in Calcutta, creating the company of Bourne and Shepherd. The majority of their photographs were purchased by European travelers. Today, many of these photographs survive in both public and private collections around the world. (Nationalgallery.org)

Measurements: Height: 8 7/8 in. x Width: 11 1/8 in.

Condition:

Overall good vintage condition, unmounted, wear to edges, light toning to paper, small loss and small tear in center of left edge, lightly impressed marks from mounting corners, faint residue on back of photo, particularly along edges, possibly from when previously mounted. Overall good vintage condition, unmounted, wear to edges, light toning to paper, small loss and small tear in center of left edge, lightly impressed marks from mounting corners, faint residue on back of photo, particularly along edges, possibly from when previously mounted.