Oct 27, 2005 - Sale 2054

Sale 2054 - Lot 86

Price Realized: $ 11,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,500 - $ 5,000
DAVENPORT BROTHERS (Ira 1839-1911 and William 1841-1877). Large albumen photographic portrait of the brothers sitting in their famous Spirit Cabinet, by noted French photographer André-Adolphe Disderi, 12x91/2 inches (30x24 cm), tipped in upper corners to a larger flexible sheet measuring 15x111/4 inches (38x28.5 cm); with an Autograph presentation Signed by French magician A.-J. Albany (1873-1940) on the lower portion of the mount. Paris, 1866.
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Important early photograph of Ira and William Davenport (1839-1911 and 1841-1877, respectively), sitting in their Spirit Cabinet with ropes and musical instruments. The cabinet sits atop 3 wooden braces. The Davenport brothers are credited with introducing the Spirit Cabinet to America about 1855. The cabinet revolutionized the production of pseudo-psychic acts worldwide.
The photo was taken by André-Adolphe Desderi (1819-1889), the father of the carte-de-visite. Desderi is well-known for his photographic portraits of Robert-Houdin and French royalty, and he had his studio on the fifth floor of Robert-Houdin's Théâtre in Paris.