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The Pyramids of Sakkarah
Francis Frith (English, 1822–1898)
1858
Medium/Technique
Photograph, albumen print from wet-collodion-on-glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 38.1 x 49.2 cm (15 x 19 3/8 in.)
Mount: 56.2 x 76.8 cm (22 1/8 x 30 1/4 in.)
Mount: 56.2 x 76.8 cm (22 1/8 x 30 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
William E. Nickerson Fund
Accession Number2002.622
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Photography
ClassificationsPhotographs
Francis Frith undertook three photographic expeditions to Egypt and Palestine between 1856 and 1860, with the aim of creating a stock of images to be used for book illustration and stereo views. In 1859, he founded one of the most successful photographic printing works of the nineteenth century. The visual records he brought back from his travels were of such technical excellence that they not only documented the ancient civilizations but also evoked their power and majesty. In his large view of the great necropolis at Sakkarah, a small pillaged pyramid serves as a dark sentinel for the structure crowning the horizon, the fabulous step pyramid of the pharaoh Zoser, considered the most ancient building in the world.
InscriptionsOn mount, below ctr, in letterpress: The Pyramids of Sakkarah, From the North East
On mount, below r., in letterpress: Frith 1857
Scratched in neg, l.r.: Frith 1858
On mount, below r., in letterpress: Frith 1857
Scratched in neg, l.r.: Frith 1858
ProvenanceBloomsbury Book Auctions, London; Robert Hershkowitz, Sussex, England; purchased by MFA, Dec. 18, 2002
Copyright