Auction house Lawrences of Crewkerne has an interesting group of fourteen portraits, described as daguerreotypes (*), on offer on the 11 June 2025. All portraits, they show members of the Clayfield-Ireland Family of Brislington, Bristol. They include James Ireland Clayfield-Ireland aged 54, his wife Letitia and twelve of their children. Some of the photographs bear labels of Mr. Callaway, Proprietor of 'The Old Established Photographic Institution' 33, Broad Quay, Bristol where he was in business from 1859-1864. All are contained in the original leather and velvet box. The lot is estimated at £300-500.
The Clayfield-Irelands were the main landowners in the village of Brislington (now a suburb of Bristol) from the 1770s - 1920s and lived at Brislington Hall which was demolished in 1933.
The photographers Cartwright and Callaway are both listed in the Heathcote's A Faithfull Likeness.
Wednesday 11 June 2025 at 10:00 BST (lots 368 - 673)
Lot 645. Details here
* BPH has asked the auction house to confirm that the portraits are dags rather than ambrotypes. The one image with a cracked cover glass shows no signs of oxidation that one might expect with a daguerreotype. Either way it looks to be a lovely object.
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