A previously unknown early photograph of Charles Dickens and a photo of Marilyn Monroe caught unaware are among images to be auctioned in London next May. Individual photographs in the auction at estimated at up to £90,000 sterling (€143,000).
The auction of photographs at Christie's on May 11th includes a daguerreotype profile portrait of Charles Dickens taken circa 1853-55 by John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1810-1901). Mounted as oval within a gilt mount, the image is 33/4x23/4 inches and is expected to fetch £20,000 to £30,000 sterling.
Ms Michelle Jarman, a specialist in the photographic department at Christie's, says it can be difficult for the collector to estimate the value of old photographs they may have.
"It's quite tricky because it's such a varied subject."
But if readers believe they have very early photographs "then it's always worth checking it out because anything from mid-1840s onwards would be interesting or worth having a look at".
Informal early photographs can be unusual. So a casual photograph outside a studio context with people in ordinary rather than formal clothes could be of unexpected value.
"Condition does make a difference. If it's in appalling condition it would have to be very, very early to be saleable. But it might still be saleable if it's extremely early." But anything in very poor condition from the 1890s onwards is likely to have a low value, she says.
Things which are "quirky" can also be valuable. One that's certainly that in the forthcoming auction is a gruesome album of crime scene images taken by a police photographer in Paris between 1902 and 1908, estimated at £12,000 to £18,000 sterling.
Ms Jarman says: "It's quite macabre. It's fairly gory. . . It isn't something that someone went out there to be taken as art. It was there as practical photography taken at the time."
Christie's sometimes sells 19th century photographs when the identity of the photographer is unknown but in almost all cases for 20th century images the photographer must be known to the market.
"There's a lot of material that's later that we don't sell because the market just hasn't been established. You could have a 19th century photograph and not have a clue who the photographer is and it could still be worth something. Whereas if it's a 20th century photograph that's much less likely to be true."
Two large format albumen prints by French photographer Gustave Le Gray are highlights in the auction. The Sun at Zenith is estimated at £70,000 to £90,000 sterling, while Forest of Fontainebleau is expected to go for £25,000 to £35,000.
A gelatin silver print of Marilyn Monroe caught unaware by Eve Arnold entitled Marilyn Airport Chicago is estimated at £800 to £1,200. It has been so estimated because the photographer was famous - not every casual photograph of a celebrity is valuable, says Ms Jarman. A photograph of Frank Sinatra by Edward Quinn is also estimated at £800 to £1,200 sterling.
The auction includes an evocative daguerreotype portrait of a Japanese castaway named Sentaro, later known as Sam Patch, who was rescued with fellow castaways in the Pacific and taken to California where he was photographed in 1851 or 1852. It is one of the earliest photographs of Japanese people.
Famous photographer Ansel Adams, the centenary of whose birth occurs next year, is represented by a portfolio of 18 gelatin silver prints entitled Parmelian Prints of the High Si- erras. Adams signed each print and the collection is expected to fetch more than £15,000.
According to Mr George Stacpoole, president of the Irish Antique Dealers Association, photographs tend to provide people with "instant family ancestors". Typical 19th century photographs might go for £5 to £10.
jmarms@irish-times.ie
