Oct 19, 2010 - Sale 2226

Sale 2226 - Lot 13

Price Realized: $ 8,400
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
BENTLEY, WILSON A. (1865-1931)
Stunning group of 6 photographs, including 5 depicting snow crystals and one of ice shards (?). Gold-chloride toned photomicrographs from glass plate negatives, each approximately 3x4 inches (7.6x10.2 cm.). Circa 1903-1910
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Additional Details

Wilson Bentley became the first person to photograph a single snow crystal in 1885 by adapting a microscope to a bellows camera. Capturing over 5,000 images of snow crystals in his lifetime, Bentley discovered the now commonly-known fact that no two snowflakes are the same. (He was also the first American to measure raindrops.)


Exquisitely detailed and as fine as paper doilies, Bentley's studies of snow crystals bring the majestic beauty of the natural world alive with a sublimely subtle force.