?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
JOSEPH SAXTON (1799-1873)/LOUIS WALTON SIPLEY (1897-1968) Old Central High School, Philadelphia. Silver print copy of the first photograph (a daguerreotype) produced in the United States, the image measuring 6 1/2x9 1/8 inches (16.5x23.2 cm.), the sheet 8 1/8x10 inches (20.6x25.4 cm.), with a typed label describing Sipley's method and the Culver Pictures stamps on verso. October 26, 1839; printed circa 1957
Sipley, with his wife Alice Gertrude Moïse, opened the first museum devoted to the history, art, and science of photography in America, the American Museum of Photography in Philadelphia in 1940. Apparently many of the photographs were donated to his museum by uninterested local institutions. The collection would eventually be donated to the George Eastman Museum. The Saxton photograph served as a frontispiece for his book titled, A Collector's Guide to American Photography, published by his museum.
In the fall of 1839, Saxton made what is generally considered the first known photograph in the United States. The image was taken from the window of his office at the Philadelphia Mint and captured the cupola of Central High School and a portion of the State Armory building. It was a scant 2 inches square, was taken on a sheet of polished metal, and a cigar box and burning glass were improvised for a camera. The picture which was produced is owned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
