Lot 66
William James Topley (1845-1930)
Lot 66 Details
William James Topley (1845-1930), Canadian
WILFRID LAURIER, 1906
Gelatin silver print; with photographer’s studio stamp to the mount lower right, titled in ink to the mount, inscribed “Entered according to act of the Parliament of Canada on the year 1906, by W J Topley and the Department of Agriculture” and dated 1906 in the negative along the bottom edge.
Sheet/Mounted 16.1" x 13" — 41 x 33 cm.; 19.9" x 15.2" — 50.5 x 38.5 cm.
Estimate $200-$300
Additional Images
Provenance:
“Mr. Remmic ?, 235 Main West” inscribed in pencil verso;
Private Estate Collection, Canada
Literature:
Gawain Weaver, Capital Portraits: Conservation of the Topley Studio Index, New York University, 2005;
Tristin Hopper, “Forgotten Canada: One of history’s first photo bombs, and turn-of-the-century typos (hey, ‘Raoul’ Amundsen)”, National Post, 7 Feb 2014, illustrated
Note:
Topley is a celebrated photographer, known for his portraiture in Canadian politics. His business partner was William Notman and, in 1872, Topley took over Notman’s Ottawa studio. Weaver comments, “He catered to the well-to-do -- as he himself said ‘If I can see beauty in the human face, and reproduce it, I can command three times the reward for my work than he who simply shoots a plate at his patron. True, in a small city, such a course limits trade, but one half of the business with three times the prices is much better for mind and body and pocketbook’” (2).
Hopper notes, “Sir Wilfrid Laurier was reportedly quite a pleasant man known for his ‘warm smile.’ [He] always adopted a bone-chilling stare when it came time to sit for a portrait. And if this 1906 photo can be believed, he also had massive hands.”