Lot 608
D.F. Barry | Three Photographs of Sioux Leaders, Denver Public Library
D.F. Barry | Three Photographs of Sioux Leaders, Denver Public Library
Starting Bid: $500
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D.F. (David Francis) Barry (American, 1854-1934)., . Three photographs from Denver Public Library limited 1982 edition: (1) "Plate 13 - Rain-in-the-Face." Number 123/150; (2) "Plate 39 - Charging Hawk." Number 120/150; (3) "Plate 40 - Arikara Medicine Man." Number 120/150. These photographs were developed from the original glass plate negatives by the Denver Public Library in 1982 by Paul Harbaugh. The images will never again be reproduced, because the library (which has had the Barry negative collection since 1934) retired the use of the original negatives upon completing the 1982 edition. These three photographs are among Barry's encyclopedic ensemble of portraits of Chiefs of the Sioux Wars and the Battle of Little Bighorn. Size of largest: 5.75" W x 7.5" H (14.6 cm W x 19.1 cm H); of matte (all the same): 16" W x 20" H (40.6 cm W x 50.8 cm H)
According to Paul Harbaugh's "The D.F. Barry Negative Collection" statement, "In 1934, the Denver Public Library purchased the negative collection of the late frontier photographer, David Francis Barry… Since acquiring the collection of some 1,000 negatives, the library has catalogued the images using what little information Barry provided (mostly pencil-written titles on the emulsion side of the collodion and early dry plate negatives). The uniqueness of these images will never again be reproduced, as the library has contractually agreed to retire from further use the D.F. Barry Collection of original negatives upon completion of this edition. The edition consists of 45 select negatives from the total collection. Each negative is printed 150 times for the present portfolios plus nine times for photographer-artist proofs. These 150 prints from the 45 select negatives comprise the first part of the edition of 300. In the year 2009, the library has consented contractually to allow the printing of the second and final part of the edition…Following the 2009 edition, the Barry Negative Collection shall be retired: that is, all original prints ever to be produced from these negatives will have been printed."
D.F. Barry was an important frontier photographer of the 19th century. Though born in upstate New York, near Rochester, Barry’s family moved West to Wisconsin when he was just seven years old. During his teenage years, Barry apprenticed to O.S. Goff, an itinerant photographer who was a master of the collodion wet plate and had become a photographer of Native Americans as well as the 7th Cavalry. While working for Goff, Barry traveled throughout the frontier and set up temporary studios at military forts where he created photographs of legendary Indians as well as military men.
With his photographs of Native American men and women, frontier scouts, trappers, soldiers, forts, and battlefields, Barry created a remarkable visual record of the American West during this period. Barry’s relationship with the Sioux who gave him the clever nickname "Little Shadow Catcher" was especially close. His photographs embody a veritable Who’s Who list of elite Plains Indians at the close of the 19th century. Many of them, including Rain in the Face featured in this selection, were involved in the Battle of Little Bighorn. Barry also took photographs of the aftermath of Little Bighorn and was the only photographer invited to the tenth anniversary of the Custer Battle, where he photographed the surviving participants who were actually retracing their positions!
Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection; Private collection of a Private Colorado Family
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Item #
202064
- Condition: Mounted to custom mats behind shrink-wrap. Have not been examined outside of shrink-wrap, but all appear to be in excellent overall condition. Lovely informative and decorative cards issued by the Western History Department, Denver Public Library titled "D.F. Barry Photographer" with an attractive rendering of two Native Americans before a tipi below and notes regarding the plate numbers, individuals depicted, sequence numbers, Paul Harbaugh's signature, another signature representing the library department, and the copyright date on the versos.
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