Photographs of the Caucasus.
[Caucasus mountains]: 1884-1898.
38 vintage platinum print photographs (printed circa 1900), mounted on card, captioned in pencil and signed and dated beneath the image by the photographer. Sizes vary, all approximately 7 x 5 inches. Generally fine, images not faded, heavy spotting to one mount, slight warping to mounts. In a custom black half morocco slipcase and chemise Item #307181
A fine group of ethnographic and mountaineering scenes from the Causasus Mountains by the Hungarian photographer and mountaineer Maurice de Déchy (1851-1917). A wide-ranging selection of views encompasing scenes from Chechnya, Dagastan, Georgia and the breadth of the Caucasus Mountains. Images include Mount Elbrus (several views), Mount Adyr, Mount Chikhildi, Mount Kasbek and numerous passes, valleys, glaciers and gorges; ethnographic scenes including Tatar, Digor, Karachai, Daghestani and Khevsuri people and villages; mountaineering scenes including camping beneath Katchou pass (with a note that the guide Maser of Tyrol died in 1900) and "en route pour la découverte du col Djiper (1885)" with de Déchy identified as one of the mountaineers.
Douglas Freshfield, in his classic Exploration of the Caucasus (1896), summarizes de Déchy's activities in the Caucasus:
"… M. de Déchy, a Hungarian gentleman, took up the task of exploration. In 1884, 1885, and 1886, he made three extensive journeys in the range. In 1884 … he climbed Elbruz and a fine peak near the Mamison Pass. In the course of his wanderings he made the first passage by travellers of several native glacier passes and collected a considerable amount of scientific information with regard to the glaciers and the snow region. He also took a very large number of most valuable photographs of the scenery and people, thus making himself the pioneer in Caucasian photography. I am indebted to him for some of the most interesting illustrations in these volumes" (Freshfield, p. 19).
De Déchy returned to the Caucasus again in 1887, this time with Freshfield. Fourteen of De Déchy's photographs were reproduced in Freshfield's Exploration of the Caucasus, including "Ice-Lake at Klukhor Pass," one of the images in the present group. He also contributed an entire chapter, "The Sources of the Kuban" (vol. II, chapter XXI).
These beautifully printed platinum prints are in a fine state of preservation and exhibit the wide tonal range and delicate shading characteristic of the process.
Price: $12,500.00 Free International Delivery
