Ambrotype portrait of a seated woman in a blue dress and lace holding a daguerreotype case. Sydney, New South Wales, circa 1861.

CROFT BROTHERS

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Sixth plate ambrotype photograph with applied colour, 80 x 70 mm; housedin a nonpareil brass mat stamped 'CROFT' at l.r., in a leather case with embossed 'vase of flowers' motif (case separated along the cloth hinge, but with a working clasp); the ambrotype is in exceptionally fine condition. This enigmatic studio portrait of a strikingly beautiful young woman is a masterly example of an overpainted ambrotype. It is also exceedingly rare, with only one ambrotype by the Sydney photographers Croft Brothers traced in Australian institutional collections. There appears to have been limited research undertaken on the photographic firm of Croft Brothers; consequently, errors in their dates and movements abound in both printed and online sources. Indeed, available evidence suggests the firm may have been a father-and-son team - not brothers at all. We know that William Croft (jnr) was born 1834 in Dartmouth, Devon. Prior to becoming a photographic artist, William was a painter - as was his father, William Croft (snr).William (jnr) married Harriet Marsh in 1856 and they had four children, the first born in Devon and the second (named Harriett, after her mother) in February 1862 in Sydney, Australia, where the Crofts lived between December 1860 and July 1865 before returning to England permanently. William (jnr) and his family, along with William (snr) had emigrated to New Zealand at the end of the 1850s. We know that William (jnr) was working as a professional photographer in Auckland during 1860, under the business name 'Croft's Photographic Establishment'.The following advertisement appeared in the Auckland newspaper, theDaily Southern Cross, on 20 July 1860: 'THE STEREOSCOPE. "Wonderful instrument." - Times. "Everything grand and beautiful in the world, brought to our own firesides." - Morning Advertiser. W. CROFT, Junr., has just received a large collection of Stereoscopes and Views, comprising the Great Eastern, Crystal Palace, English Views, Statuary, Groups, Views of Paris, America, and Australia. TO EVENING PARTIES. W. C. in order to give the public a facility of seeing his collection will lend Stereoscopes and Views for the evening at the low charge of 5 per cent on value taken. CROFT'S Photographic Establishment, Shortland Street, Auckland.' Keith Giles' research on the pioneer Auckland photographer Hartley Webster suggests that Webster may have influenced the Crofts to relocate to Sydney: he notes that 'the photographers William Croft (snr) and William Croft (jnr) were also on board' when Webster arrived in Sydney from Auckland on the Lord Worsley, which cleared quarantine on12 December 1860. (Giles, Keith.Hartley Webster, Auckland?s first resident professional photographer. 2008, NZ Legacy, footnote 75, p. 9). The Sydney dates for Croft Brothers of 1863-65, as stated not only in the DAAO biography but also in Davies & Stanbury (The Mechanical Eye in Australia), and repeated in the catalogue entries of some public collections, are thus patently incorrect. Furthermore, a Croft Brothers ambrotype in the SLNSW (MIN 584) - a copy of a portrait of Sydney merchant Samuel Cohen made shortly after his death - is dated 12 November 1861, and has the partnership's first Australian studio address of 154 South Head Road - not the later and more commonly known 33 South Head Road address. In fact, the earliest mention of 'Croft's Photographic Establishment' in Sydney newspapers is to be found in the classifieds section of the Sydney Morning Herald, 17 April 1861: 'WANTED, EMPLOYMENT House or ship painting, graining, writing, gilding, bronzing, paperhanging, distempering, sash, or leaded light glazing, mapstretching, staining, varnishing, picture framing, mounting,cleaning, &c. Workmanship warranted. Testimonials thebest. Information atCROFT'SPhotographic Establishment,154, old South Head Road.' It is not clear precisely who was seeking employment: perhaps it was William Croft (snr), hoping to earn extra income while the new business got o. Seller Inventory # 41770

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Title: Ambrotype portrait of a seated woman in a ...
Binding: Hardcover