Sotheby's have just posted the lot entry for a full set of Franklin daguerreotypes which will be sold by online-only auction next month but can be viewed in London before the auction closes. The lot which is estimated at £150,000-200,000 will be subject to an export licence if it sells overseas.
Lot details are here:
Franklin Expedition—Richard Beard Studio
A unique set of 14 daguerreotypes of the officers of the Franklin expedition, 1845
14 sixth-plate daguerreotypes (70 x 83mm.), each hand-tinted with shell gold applied to the buttons, hat bands and epaulettes of the officers' jackets, all but one sealed, each inscribed on the verso (in ink or etched with a stylus, denoting name and sometimes rank of sitter, name of ship on which they served, and date), housed in a contemporary partitioned, book-form morocco case (203 x 339 x 22mm.), the daguerreotypes presented in four rows, blind-tooling around edges of lid and tray and to outer edges and inner faces of side walls, inner surface of compartments lined with glazed burgundy cloth, accompanied by a manuscript list of officers in ink on laid paper
THE PRE-EMINENT SET OF DAGUERREOTYPES OF FRANKLIN'S DOOMED EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. THIS SENSATIONAL SET WAS OWNED BY FRANKLIN’S DIRECT DESCENDENTS, AND HAS NEVER BEEN SHOWN OR EXHIBITED IN PUBLIC.
PROVENANCE:
Family of Sir John Franklin, by direct descent
£150,000-200,000
As Michael Pritchard knows, I've been interested in these specific daguerreotypes for a while but am not an expert in daguerreotypes. While the details provided by Sotheby's raise some questions in my mind I hope that they might remain in Britain so that people can see the full set (Scott Polar Research Institute's set lacks two of the images) in person as well as online.
Travel, Atlases, Maps, Photographs & Natural History
Online, 7 September 2023 •10:00 BST
On view: 15-19 September 2023
and auction details are here: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/travel-atlas-maps-photographs
Russell Potter has a blog post here about their history and context https://visionsnorth.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-newfound-franklin-daguerreotypes.html
Comments