Three D.F. Barry Photos from Original 19th C. Negatives

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Northwest Coast, Tribal, & Pre-Columbian Art

By Artemis Gallery

May 24, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-05-24 10:00:00 2018-05-24 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Northwest Coast, Tribal, & Pre-Columbian Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/northwest-coast-tribal-pre-columbian-art-3238
Featuring Pacific Northwest Coast Native American Art from respected collector / dealer, Joseph Alphabet. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  D.F. (David Francis) Barry (American, 1854-1934), Plate 1 "Rain-in-the-Face" (ca. 1885) - 123/150 from Denver Public Library limited 1982 edition; Plate 7 "Long Dog" (date unknown) - 123/150 from Denver Public Library limited 1982 edition; Plate 37 "Wild Horse" (date unknown) - 120/150 from Denver Public Library limited 1982 edition. 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: Plate 1 and Plate 7 measure 9.5" L x 7.5" W (24.1 cm x 19 cm); Plate 37 measures 9.375" L x 7.625" W (23.8 cm x 19.4 cm); 20" L x 16" W (50.8 cm x 40.6 cm) including mats
  
  Plate I depicts "Rain-in-the-Face", a Hunkpapa war chief best known for his leadership during the Fetterman Massacre, Red Cloud Wars, and the Battle of Little Bighorn. Plate 7 presents "Long Dog" who took part in many battles of the Sioux Wars and was believed to "carry the favorable charm of a ghost which gave him protection and heroic success in war." Finally, Plate 37 depicts "Wild Horse" - an Oglala chief believed to have been either the brother or cousin of Crazy Horse.
  
  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
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #134544

  Condition

  Overall excellent. Mounted to custom mats. 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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