GALLERY

These are historical sites in St. Augustine, Florida. They are 'crayon' portraits, or vintage enlargements, utilizing the sun's reflections projected onto a larger surface. The resulting photogravures were often 'soft,' so charcoal and other materials were used to enhance the highlights.

These are not signed, there is no maker mark. However, they are attributed to George Barker and are 100% guaranteed to be by him. There are others from this series that are stamped with his name, but none that we have seen approximate the condition of these, nor are they in the price range of ours.

Again, these are not signed, there is no maker mark.

These are on original card mounts.

#1. The City Gate of St. Augustine, featururing an African American driver in a wagon pulled by a horse. This is a classic scene, yet this one is exemplary: the man's face is beautifully lit! It's an artistic triumph of sorts.

THE SIGN - "ORANGE ST."

#2. A mixed commercial-residential street. The Getty Museum has the same photo in their collection, identified as Charlotte Street, with a date of 1889 - 1893.

THE SIGNS - "GARDINER BROS. PRODUCE & POULTRY, FISH OYSTERS & CLAMS," a small posted sign with a crudely written "FRESH...," a broadside with lots of text including "WM. MOUREY" with a picture, "FURNISHED HOMES TO RENT, CURIOSITIES FOR SALE," and "RESTAURANT."

THE PEOPLE - LEFT SIDE OF THE STREET: There is an African American man by the first sign, an African American boy with a pail and a cane before the second sign, and a bearded Caucasian man and his two Caucasian children further along. Now go back. Just to the right of the black youth, if you stop and look closely, there's a 'ghost' image of the bearded Caucasian man who must've been next to the black youth and hurried over to be with his children. Further on down, there is one blurry person in action, and it almost looks like a camera with a shroud, or possibly a table of some sort. RIGHT SIDE OF THE STREET: Blurry woman, and on the steps before her there's a tripod. Further down the street is a blurry man. There's another group towards the end of our vision, in front of a carousel.

SIZE. Each is approximately 19 1/4 x 15 5/8 inches.

CONDITION. #1: Wear and some discoloration around edges and at corners. Some soiling in the sky. Small spots and specks. #2: Missing lower right corner. Wear at other corners and around edges. Soiling/mottling in the sky. Dark marks on the ground. Other small spots and specs. Some scuff marks are apparent when tilted.

APPEARANCE. Each has very good, deep, and rich tones. Each has very good details. The size of the photos is impressive! A gorgeous pair.

GEORGE BARKER. "George Barker (17 July 1844 – 27 November 1894) was a Canadian-American photographer best known for his photographs of Niagara Falls. Barker was born in London, Ontario in 1844. He first studied landscape painting, switching to photography following a financial setback. He began his photography training with the Western-Canadian photographer James Egan. At the age of 18, he had opened his own studio in London. In July 1862, he made his first trip to Niagara Falls, New York, where he found a job working for Platt D. Babbitt. By the late 1860s, he had studios in both London and Niagara Falls, with the Niagara studio called Barker's Stereoscopic View Manufactory and Photograph Rooms, and had become known nationwide for his large-format (up to 18 in × 20 in (46 cm × 51 cm)) and stereographic prints of the falls. In 1866, he won a gold medal for landscape photography at the convention for the Photographers Association of America, held in Saint Louis. Barker's Niagara studio was destroyed by fire on February 7, 1870, but his negatives survived. Barker was one of the earliest photographers to visit the state of Florida. At the time, photography in Florida was challenging, as much of the state remained undeveloped, which meant photographers needed to carry their bulky equipment through the state's wetlands and subtropical jungles, as well as deal with delicate film in hot and humid conditions. Barker spent nearly four years (on and off), from 1886 to 1890, documenting much of northern and central Florida. In addition to his well-known landscape photographs, Barker traveled the United States, documenting natural disasters such as the Louisville Tornado of 1890 and the 1889 Johnstown flood. When he died in 1894 of Bright's disease, he was described as 'the eminent photographer of Niagara Falls'. Upon his death, his works were acquired by Underwood & Underwood of Washington, D.C." Additional works are included in the permanent collections of: Library of Congress, J Paul Getty Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Galleries of Scotland, Art Institute of Chicago, Art Gallery of Ontario, National Gallery of Art, Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. (source: Wikipedia)