Lot 98
Japan, China, Philippines, Indonesia & Canada
Two photograph albums, 1925-6
Auction: Other Properties | Wed 25 February from 10am | Lots 63 to 255
Description
The first entitled ‘T.S.S. California World Cruise Jan-May 1925’ and signed J. Esmond-Bell, containing 112 gelatin silver print photographs, various sizes (mainly 7.2 x 11.5cm, but two larger ones in portrait format 20.2 x 12.8), mostly amateur ‘snaps’ mounted on black paper and captioned with white ink, depictions of scenery, local people, ships crew, and tourists, commencing in Kobe, Japan, in March 1925, moving onto Tokyo and Nara, before heading to China with photographs including street scenes of Shanghai, proceeding on to the Philippines, Java, Singapore, Calcutta, Darjeeling and Colombo, Japanese-style album with patterned cloth covers;
The second untitled, recording a family's holiday in 1926, 181 gelatin silver small format prints (6 x 8.5cm) inserted into windows in leaves (4 to a page), mostly amateur ‘snaps’ but with some studio-produced prints at the rear of the album, nearly all the photographs are captioned in ink, commencing in Canada (Niagara Falls then west by train to Banff and Vancouver, proceeding to Japan with scenes of Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto and others, then to China (on the S.S. Empress Canada), with various views of scenes and locals in Shanghai and Hong Kong, then to Batavia (Jakarta) and Java, with various views of local people working, paper-covered album, spine torn at head and foot (2)
Footnote
Compiler of T.S.S. California album was probably John Esmond Bell (1903-59) a wireless officer on Glasgow-built S.S. California, which was in operation for the Anchor Line between 1923 and 1939.