Carleton E. Watkins

mammoth-plate albumen print, mounted, inscribed 'No. 423' by the photographer in ink, titled by him in pencil, and with his copyright stamp on the mount, annotated in an unidentified hand in ink on the reverse, matted, 1867

Other prints of this image:

James Alinder, David Featherstone, and Russ Anderson, Carleton E. Watkins:Photographs of the Columbia River and Oregon (Friends of Photography and The Weston Gallery, 1979), pl. 49

Weston J. Naef and James N. Wood, Era of Exploration: The Rise of Landscape Photography in the American West, 1869-1885 (Albright-Knox Art Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 125

Daniel Wolf, The American Space: Meaning in Nineteenth-Century Landscape Photography (Middletown, Connecticut, 1983), pl. 44

Carleton E. Watkins: Photographs (Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, 1989, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 103

Pioneers of Landscape Photography: Gustave Le Gray, Carleton Watkins (The J. Paul Getty Museum and Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, 1993, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 57

Grading this albumen print on a scale of 1 to 10 – a 10 being an albumen print that has rich dark tones and highlights that retain all of their original detail – this print surpasses a rating of 10. It is unusual to find an albumen print with such deep brown/black dark tones. The print's highlights are an unsullied cream color. It is also unusual to find an albumen print that has survived in this remarkable condition. The print has no significant condition issues and is in excellent condition. The print is mounted to smooth, thin, cream-colored board that shows minor edge wear and has some very light occasional soiling – none of this encroaches upon the image. The dimensions of the mount are 27 by 21 inches. The photographer's copyright stamp on the mount is placed just beneath the lower left corners of the print and reads as follows: "Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by C. E. WATKINS, in the clerks 's office of the District Court of the United States, for the Northern District of California."
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The mammoth-plate albumen print offered here, of Carleton Watkins's sublime view of Multnomah Falls, was made during the photographer's 1867 trip to Oregon.  It is rare to see a 19^th-century albumen photograph that exhibits the richness of tone of the present print, or one that has weathered the passage of t.mes so admirably.  The bold appearance of this print suggests the impact that Watkins's newly-made photographs must have made upon his contemporaries. 

In 1867, Carleton Watkins traveled to Portland, Oregon, where he began an extensive series of photographs along the Columbia and Willamette rivers.  By this t.mes , Watkins had established himself as one of the premier photographers of the American West.  His work in the Yosemite Valley had earned him great acclaim, and he had mastered the difficult wet-plate process to an extent that few could match.  During his stay of several months in Oregon, Watkins had to contend with an extended period of bad and rainy weather which hindered his travel and limited his ability to photograph.  Nonetheless, he came away from his Oregon trip having made nearly 60 impressive mammoth-plate negatives and over 100 stereo views.  Multnomah Falls, Columbia River is one of four Watkins photographs of Oregon offered in this catalogue (see also Lots 37, 105, and 106). 

Watkins made at least three mammoth-plate views of Multnomah Falls.  Of the Falls images that appear in the literature, the present image is the only one which shows the entirety of its two-tiered, 620-foot height.  While most of Watkins's Oregon views include as integral parts of their composition railroad tracks, architecture, boats, or other evidence of human occupation, Multnomah Falls is notable for presenting an almost Edenic scene untouched by man.    

Weston Naef and the Carleton Watkins Mammoth Plate Catalogue Raisonné Project have located 11 other prints of this image in institutional collects ions, and 6 in private hands.  It is believed that a print of Multnomah Falls, Columbia River, has appeared at auction only once before, at Replica Shoes 's Los Angeles on 5 February 1981 (Sale 296A, Lot 469).    The image relates closely to Watkins's Pacific Coast stereo view no. 1239.