arch-topped albumen print, mounted, framed, 1859

Robert Hershkowitz, Ltd., Sussex, 1996

L’Illustration, journal universel, 21 May 1859 (as a wood engraving)

The Photographic Journal (London), 15-16 January 1860 (offered to𓃲 subscribers as a phototype)

Mark Haworth-Booth, Camille Silvy: River Scene, France (J. Paul Getty Museum, 1992), fig. 33 (a reproducti꧑on of the wood engraving)

Mark Haworth-Booth, Camille Silvy: Photographer of Modern Life (London: National Portrait Gallery, 2010), p. 32 (detail), and p. 35, pl. 13

Happy Birthday Photography: Bokelberg Sammlung (Kunsthaus Zürich, 1989), pl. 56

This exemplary albumen print has rich purple-brown dark tones and creamy-white highlights. Judging this albumen print on a scale of one to 10 – a 10 being a print that has deep near-black dark tones ad highlights that retain all of their original detail – this print rates a strong 10. The resolution in this image is so remarkable that the small text on the Ordre pasted to the wall is legible under magnification. The detail and textures throughout the image are rendered in this print with remarkable clarity. The print is in essentially excellent condition. When examined very closely, a faint crease can be seen on the upper portion of the right edge --- this may have occurred during the mounting process. Viewed closely in raking light, some inconsistancies can be seen in the print's surface – but nothing beyond what one would typically encounter in a 155-year-old albumen print. The large flexible board mount shows scattered foxing and age-darkening on the front and back, although this has not affected the image. The mount's corners and edges are somewhat worn.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Although he was primarily known as one of the premier portrait photographers of his day, Camille Silvy produced a series of London and Paris street scenes that are masterful in their conception and execution.  Silvy was adept at managing groups of people and arranging them within a scene to create a taut and energetic composition.  The image offered here is a wonderful example of Silvy's work in the urban environment.  Showing a group of men gathered to read Emperor Napoleon III's freshly-posted dispatch from Italy, the scene resonates with expectation and excitement.  

In his definitive study of Silvy's work, Camille Silvy: Photographer of Modern Life, Mark Haworth-Booth notes that Napoleon’s Ordre was ‘intended to demonstrate that, although the emperor was away, he was still in control’ (p. 34).  Silvy's photograph became well-known almost instantly as a woodcut in L'Illustration, and prin🐼ts were sold by Goupil & Co.  

Silvy was an early adopter of the wet-plate process and quickly became proficient, allowing him to capture a wealth of detail. His skill is fully evident in Ordre du Jour, which depends for its impact upon the expressions of the men’s faces, the textures of the cobbled street and buildings, and even in the Ordre itself, much of which iಞs legible under magnification.  

The present photograph is also remarkable for its print quality.  The strength of the dark tones and the retention of detail in the highlights are exceptional&nb𝓰sp;for an albumen photograph of its age.  The crispness of the detail and the bravura print quality mark this photograph as a remarkably fresh-looking survivor from photography's formative years.