JAMES ROBERTSON (1813-1888)/FELICE BEATO (1832–1909) Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III, Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). Circa 1857. Albumen print, the image measuring 12⅜x10⅜ inches (31.4x26.4 cm.), the mount 17¼x12⅛ inches (43.8x30.8 cm.), with what appears to be a credit or title in the negative, and the title in pencil on mount verso.
Provenance A California Collection
Robertson was a photographer and engraver in the Ottoman capital. First celebrated for his career minting coins and medals, Robertson was also a pioneer photographer. Beato is known to have begun work as a photographer as early as 1851, when he traveled to Constantinople and met Robertson, who would later become his brother-in-law. By 1853, they had formed a partnership called Robertson & Beato. Producing topographical and architectural views that included incidental figures and created a sense of daily life, their work is to be remembered as one of the earliest and most comprehensive photographic record of 19th-century Istanbul.
