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Sotheby's: 'Leaf' photo early as 1790
NEW YORK - Sotheby's auction house is selling a primitive photograph that could be a much earlier work than originally believed. If so, Sotheby's says, it would be one of the most important discoveries in the history of photography.
"Leaf," to be sold at Sotheby's on April 7, is a photogenic drawing - a cameraless process in which an object is placed on silver nitrate-coated paper or leather to form a negative image.
It had previously been attributed to William Henry Fox Talbot, considered the father of photography along with Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre. It was thought to have been made in 1839 at what is widely accepted as the dawn of photography.
But Sotheby's says research by a leading photo expert suggests otherwise, that several early photo experimenters could be the authors, including Thomas Wedgwood, James Watt and Humphry Davy, who worked in the medium decades earlier. If that theory is true, it means the photo could have been made as early as 1790.
"When we thought it was Talbot," said Denise Bethel, Sotheby's director of photography, "we gave it a $100,000 to $150,000 estimate. Now with this other possibility . . . it's certainly far more valuable."
Sotheby's catalog lists "Leaf" as "Photographer Unknown." But the auctioneer says an inscription of the initial "W" on the corner of the photo could point to Wedgwood or Watt as possible authors. Wedgwood died in 1805; Watt in 1819.
"Leaf" was among six similar anonymous works that were sold individually at Sotheby's London in 1984. It was purchased by a dealer for $776, and only later attributed to Talbot.
