Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2013 | Page 54

ANTIQUES Antiques and Collectables with Philip Hoare F.T.V.I KEEP A LOOK OUT for priceless pics Photography is a category that can easily slip kept careful control as to which images were was perfected which meant that prepared under the radar when we think of what might allowed to be distributed. plates that did not need instant processing be of value lurking around the house. The Taking a photograph in the 1860s involved could be purchased and taken anywhere. family album is what people said was the first much preparation, apparatus and thought, This simplification allowed the enthusiastic thing they would grab if they had to run from a with the business of wet plate sensitisation amateur and the commercial firms to house fire. Priceless, but of no financial value. and exposure needing considerable scientific get to areas previously barely visited by acumen. But it was not only professionals photographers. This coincided with the older albums or archives, then it is worth who rose to the challenge. Perhaps the most 'Scramble for Africa' and the rush to carve checking that the contents are not significant. well known female photographer of the 19th up the world into colonies for the western No-one is going to want snapshots of great century, Julia Margaret Cameron, took up powers. From those last decades of the aunt Agnes unless she sat for somebody photography in 1863 at the age of 48 when century we see a lot of prints for which there famous or ventured to some exotic location. living at Dimbola Lodge, Freshwater Bay. seemed to be a huge market. However, if we are lucky enough to inherit From the 1860s, with the advent of the Over the following 12 years she produced Travellers to the Grand Tour destina tions small carte de visite format, photographs a remarkable body of work, mostly moody such as Italy, the Rhine and Egypt became very cheap with celebrity portraits portraits of her famous friends, like Tennyson all returned home laden with bought especially in demand. Queen Victoria graced and family. photographs that there is little demand for many mantelpieces and interestingly she At around that date the dry plate process today. But albums compiled off the beaten track by explorers or soldiers can be unique and of significant worth. Especially popular are Arctic and Antarctic voyages and photographs of the big emerging economies, China and India. The advent of the Kodak Brownie in the 1890s and the postcard craze of a few years later killed off the old photograph trade, which is not to say 20th century material is not potentially valuable. The 1920s or 30s for places like the Persian Gulf is still very 'early' and there were still plenty of places yet to be visited. There are collectors for almost everything, from railways to big game and whaling to cricket and civil rights. Free valuation days for antiques, jewellery and silver. Every Friday, 10am-4pm at Spithead Business Centre Voluntary donations to Earl Mountbatten Hospice VALUATIONS • COMMISSION SALES • RESEARCH 54 www.visitislandlife.com PHILIP HOARE Unit A15, Spithead Business Centre, Newport Road, Lake, IW PO36 9PH MOBILE: [phone] EMAIL: [email protected] www.philipahoare.com