4074 - New Zealand

New Zealand Photographer: Burton Bros. (1866-1914). Views of mountain ranges, waterfalls and lakes in New Zealand. Circa 1885. 19 albumen prints. Each circa 15 x 20 cm and reverse. Some with number in the negative in lower corners; most with photographer's stamp and annotated in pencil on the verso. The Burton Brothers studio was among the leading photographic businesses of nineteenth-century New Zealand. Walter John Burton (1836-1880) established the Grand Photographic Saloon and Gallery in Princes Street, Dunedin, in 1866; with the arrival of his brother Alfred Henry Burton (1834-1914) in 1868, the business became Burton Brothers. During their partnership, which ended in 1877, Walter directed the Dunedin portrait studio while Alfred travelled widely to produce landscapes and panoramic views; their travelling dark-van, built for wet-plate work, enabled photography in remote terrain as well as the safe transport of the studio’s equipment. The firm supplied settlers with portraits and marketed its views of the colony, including Māori portraiture, to local and international audiences in individual prints, series and albums. The present selection surveys the dramatic landscapes of the South Island, including Bowen Falls, Mitre Peak, Franz Josef Glacier, Hot Water Basin, the Matukituki River, Mount Cook, Diamond Lake, Mount Rolleston, Lake Manapouri, Otira Gorge, Arthur River, Lake Ada, Milford Sound and “The Lion” at Milford Sound. – Most with light creases; some with small tears or nicks along the edges; a few with fading at the edges, otherwise most in good to very good condition. Provenance: By descent to the current owner.