Lot 443
Pursey, J. - Last General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 14 February 2018 at 10:00 GMT
Description
photogravure, 42 x 89cm, commemorating the last General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1900, signed J. Pursey, Edinburgh, No.55a to the print, framed and glazed, along with a scroll produced by Pursey, listing each sitter by name
Footnote
Note: J. Pursey's photography studio was based at 135 Princes Street, Edinburgh. It would appear that many of the portraits in this photograph, particularly those of the men in the main body of the Church, were taken in Pursey's studio and then placed into the image from which the photogravure was made. Pursey styles himself an 'artistic photographer'. Pursey's method seems to reflect the technique employed by David Octavius Hill in 1843, when he decided to create a painting commemorating the first General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. Lionel Gossman writes: "In preparation for this work, he [Hill] and Adamson took many photos of individuals and groups which he planned to represent in it; indeed, Hill's canvas is often considered the first work of art to ever have been painted with the help of photographic images, even if, ironically, the photographs are still admired while the painting, finally completed 22 years later, is not." [Gossman. Thomas Annan of Glasgow, 2015, p.28]