ENGLISH QUAKER AND ABOLITIONIST

Daguerreotype and ambrotype portraits of Stacey and members of his family.

London, 1850s.

A collection of 12 cased daguerreotypes (ninth to half plate), 7 framed/cased ambrotypes (ninth to quarter plate), and 1 cased hand-painted salt print photograph; some colour tinting; occasional tarnishing or spotting, some cases chipped, a few with hinges split; very good overall.

£7500

Approximately:
US $9467€8777

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Daguerreotype and ambrotype portraits of Stacey and members of his family.

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A handsome set of photographs of the English Quaker and abolitionist George Stacey (1787-1857), his second wife Mary née Barclay (1797-1876) and members of their extended family, taken by some of the finest portraitists in England at that time.

A partner in the London firm of chemists, Corbyn, Beaumont, Stacey & Messer, Stacey became a leading member of the Anti-Slavery Society following its foundation in 1823, and in the 1830s and 1840s served twelve times as clerk of the important yearly meeting of Quakers in London. He played a significant role in the 1840 Anti-Slavery Society Convention and appears in the front row next to Thomas Clarkson in Benjamin Haydon’s famous painting of the occasion, and two years later was one of four British delegates sent to help resolve a schism within the Society of Friends in Salem, Iowa. Stacey married his cousin Deborah Lloyd (1796-1841), of the famous banking family, in 1818, and they had several children. Following her death, he married Mary Barclay in 1846.

Stacey and his family clearly embraced the daguerreotype portrait and sought out portraitists of good repute. Timothy Edmund Le Beau was only the second person to be granted a license by Richard Beard to use the daguerreotype process in England. He had a studio in London from 1846 to 1852 and was awarded a medal for daguerreotypes exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Works by him are remarkably scarce institutionally. It is interesting to find here different portraits of George and Mary Stacey apparently taken at the same sitting with Le Beau. Antoine François Jean Claudet (1797-1867) took lessons from Daguerre himself before opening his first portrait studio on the roof of the Adelaide Gallery in London in 1841. He remained there until 1851, and two years later was appointed Photographer in Ordinary to Queen Victoria. William Edward Kilburn (1818-91) produced his finest daguerreotypes between 1852 and 1855 at his Regent Street studio, showing remarkable skill in his use of light and tinting. Richard Beard (1801-85) is justly remembered for his entrepreneurial activities promoting the early development in England of the new art of photography. John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901) was one of the most enduringly successful professional photographers of his day. His cartes de visite of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children were the first set of royal photographs that were widely available.

The photographs comprise:

STACEY, George (Timothy LE BEAU, photographer). Half plate daguerreotype portrait of George seated in leather chair facing right, some colour tinting to face. Oval mount, original velvet-lined leather case with gilt stamp of ‘Le Beau 8 London Terrace Hackney Road’, hinge split.

STACEY, George (Timothy LE BEAU, photographer). Half plate daguerreotype portrait of George seated in wooden chair facing right, hands clasped, faint colour tinting to face. Oval mount, original velvet-lined leather case, hinge split.

STACEY, George and Mary (Timothy LE BEAU, photographer). Half plate daguerreotype portrait of George (seated, facing front) and Mary (standing, book in right hand, spectacles in left), faint colour tinting to faces. Arch top mount, original velvet-lined leather case with gilt stamp of ‘Le Beau 8 London Terrace Hackney Road’.

STACEY, George and Mary (Timothy LE BEAU, photographer). Half plate daguerreotype portrait of George (seated, facing right) and Mary (standing, right hand resting on table), some colour tinting. Arch top mount, original velvet-lined leather case with gilt stamp of ‘Le Beau 8 London Terrace Hackney Road’, paper label with ink note ‘George & Mary Stacey of Lordship House, Tottenham taken about 1854-56, he died 1857, she died 1876’.

STACEY, George and Mary (Timothy LE BEAU, photographer). Half plate daguerreotype portrait of George (seated, facing front) and Mary (standing, spectacles in left hand), faint colour tinting to faces, a little tarnishing at top of plate. Arch top mount, original velvet-lined leather case with gilt stamp of ‘Le Beau 8 London Terrace Hackney Road’.

STACEY, Mary (Antoine CLAUDET, photographer). Quarter plate daguerreotype portrait of Mary seated facing front, book in right hand, left arm resting on table, some colour tinting. Arch top mount, original velvet-lined leather case with gilt stamp ‘Claudet’s daguerreotype Royal Adelaide Gallery’.

UNIDENTIFIED (Antoine CLAUDET, photographer). Quarter plate daguerreotype portrait of young woman facing front, slight tarnishing at edges. Arch top mount, original velvet-lined leather case with gilt stamp ‘Claudet’s daguerreotype Royal Adelaide Gallery’.

UNIDENTIFIED. Sixth plate daguerreotype portrait of the same young woman seated facing right with elbow of right arm resting on table, colour tinting, some tarnishing and spotting at edges. Arch top mount, original velvet-lined leather case, hinge split.

UNIDENTIFIED (Antoine CLAUDET, photographer). Quarter plate daguerreotype portrait of young man seated facing front, faint colour tinting. Arch top mount, original velvet-lined leather case with gilt stamp ‘Claudet’s daguerreotype Royal Adelaide Gallery’.

UNIDENTIFIED (William Edward KILBURN, photographer). Sixth plate daguerreotype portrait of middle-aged woman seated facing right, right arm resting on table with book, colour tinting, some spotting to plate and mount. Arch top mount, original velvet-lined leather case with gilt stamp ‘Mr Kilburn 254 Regent Street’.

UNIDENTIFIED. Sixth plate daguerreotype portrait of elderly man seated facing left, some tarnishing to edges. Rectangular mount, original velvet-lined leather case.

[?BARCLAY, William (?Richard Beard, photographer)] Ninth plate daguerreotype head and shoulders portrait, facing right. Decorative gilt rectangular mount (probably Thomas Wharton) housed in original velvet-lined leather case.

BARCLAY, William. Sixth plate ambrotype portrait of William seated facing front, edges slightly tarnished. In original gilt frame, pencil note to back ‘taken Aug 1856 W.B. aged 66 6 mo’.

HOWARD, Ellen and Effie. Quarter plate ambrotype portrait of Ellen seated facing left holding baby Effie. Arch top mount in original gilt frame, small paper label with ink note ‘Ellen Howard & Effie Howard’ to back.

STACEY, Henry George and John Barclay. Quarter plate ambrotype portrait of Henry and John as children in a hand-painted rural setting, a few spots. Oval mount in original gilt frame, small paper label with ink note ‘H.G.S. & J.B.S.’ to back.

STACEY, John Barclay. Quarter plate ambrotype portrait of John as child standing facing front, some colour tinting, some spotting to plate. Oval mount in original gilt frame, small paper label with ink note ‘J.B.S.’ to back.

STACEY, John Barclay. Ninth plate ambrotype portrait of John as young man seated facing front, right arm resting on ledge, left hand holding scroll. Arch top mount, original velvet-lined leather case, hinge split, remains of small paper label with ink note ‘John Barclay ...’ to back.

STACEY, John Barclay. Ninth plate ambrotype portrait of John as child seated facing front holding book, some crude colouring. Original frame, faint pencil note to back ‘John Barclay Stacey’.

UNIDENTIFIED. Sixth plate ambrotype portrait of elderly woman seated facing front, some colour tinting. In original gilt frame.

UNIDENTIFIED (John Jabez Edwin MAYALL, photographer). Hand-painted salt print portrait (11.5 x 9) of middle-aged woman, seated facing left, holding letter, spectacles resting on table. Under glass in arch top mount in velvet-lined leather case with gilt stamp of ‘Mayall 224 Regent St Argyll Place London’.

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