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Nevada City,CA - Nevada County - c1880 - John Spaulding Family Photograph :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Photographic Images Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 300.00 USD
Nevada City,CA - Nevada County - c1880 - John Spaulding Family Photograph :
Lot of three includes a matted family photograph 4 7/8"x7 3/4" and two unmounted 3 1/4"x 4 1/4" photograph collection. The cabinet card is of John Spaulding and family. John Spaulding came from Canton, New York to find employment in California with the California Stage Company between 1856 to 1862. After 1862 he drove for Wells Fargo on the route from Placerville to Virginia City for three years before becoming head of all Wells Fargo activities between Sacramento and the Comstock. After 1868, Spaulding became active in irrigation projects. He would eventually manage the South Yuba Water Company in Nevada City, CA (situated next to Ott's Assay Office). The Cabinet Card was taken by William Dames and Henry Hayes of Dames & Hayes in San Francisco. Dames & Hayes were in partnership between 1877 and 1885. The two smaller unmounted photographs depict scenes from the construction of the "Yuba Ditch". One is a landscape shot and the other is taken from inside the ditch. The photograph inside the ditch utilizes the light brilliantly so as to illuminate the engineering of the ditch project. Both unmounted photographs are signed by C.E. Watkins, the well-known landscape photographer of Yosemite. The cabinet card is in sharp focus on the family with high contrast and some foxing in the background. The unmounted landscape photographs are in excellent focus. The landscape shot has medium contrast and the close-up of the ditch has high contrast.