A private and unusually large collection of Chinese photographs is the major focus of the forthcoming Photography auction at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on Wednesday 22 May. The collection appears to have been collected by Johann Carl Albert Jahreis. He was born in 1865 in Münchberg, Germany, and died in Hong Kong in 1890, where he is buried. According to family lore he went to China to open a brewery but otherwise almost nothing is known about him. From further research it seems highly likely that he is the same person as the 'A. Jahreis' who is listed in several of the China and Hong Kong Directories published in the late 1880s, where his position was given as clerk for the German merchants Eduard Schellhass & Co. in Shanghai.
The photographs are mostly mounted on individual mounts, with often lengthy German inscriptions on the backs. The collection comprises more than 100 China photographs and over 50 photographs of Japan, Ceylon, Italy and Egypt. Until now the collection has been preserved in an antique cloth box with Jahreis's name and home town inscribed on the inner lid. The 107 China photographs (65 lots) are notable for their fine condition and exceptional tonal quality, and mostly can be dated to around 1870. They include a number of rare images by William Saunders (1832-1892), Major James Crombie Watson (1833-1908), Pun Lun (1864-c.1900) and Henry Cammidge (1839-1874).
Digital catalogues in various formats will be available on the website www.dominicwinter.co.uk from 10 May; printed catalogues from 13 May. Public viewing daily on Monday/Tuesday 20/21 May, 9.30-5.30, and day of sale from 9am; all other times by appointment.
For further information and enquiries please contact Chris Albury chris@dominicwinter.co.uk | 01285 860006
Dominic Winter Auctioneers, Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5UQ
Image: Pun Lun (1864-c.1900). Advertising collage of portrait photographs, c. 1870, albumen print, 19.5 x 27 cm
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