Finding aid for Claude-Joseph Portier, Algérie pittoresque, 1870s 2004.R.6
Beth Ann Guynn
Special Collections
2021
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
Contributing Institution: Special Collections
Title: Claude-Joseph Portier, Algérie pittoresque
Creator: Portier, C. (Claude-Joseph), 1841-1910
Identifier/Call Number: 2004.R.6
Physical Description: 1.5 Linear Feet(20 photographs in 1 album)
Date (inclusive): 1870s
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Abstract: The 20 albumen photographs in Claude-Joseph Portier's album
Algérie pittoresque mostly depict the city of Algiers, and include views of streets in the casbah, gardens, fountains, interiors, a mosque, the
Governor's Palace, and the harbor. Images not of Algiers include a view on the route between Algiers and Tipaza, a waterfall
in the Vallée de l'Oued-Kébir in the province of Blidah, and a fountain in Birkhadem. Also included are five studio portraits
of Algerians.
Language of Material: Collection material is in French.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Claude-Joseph Portier, Algérie pittoresque, 1870s, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2004.R.6.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2004r6
Biographical / Historical
French-born photographer Claude-Joseph Portier (24 May 1841, Paris-9 May 1910, Algiers) operated a photography studio in Algiers
from around 1863 until the early 1880s. His advertisements in the newspaper
Akhbar characterized his business as "photographie nouvelle." In addition to selling photographs in a wide variety of formats ranging
from cartes-de-visite to stereographs, Portier also sold photographic supplies and offered lessons in photography, and in
the early 1880s he held painting exhibitions at his premises.
Portier was known for his views of the narrow streets of old Algiers, as well as for his portraits of Algerians. His prints
were often sold mounted with the letterpress legend "Alégrie pittoresque" printed above the image. In 1868, he offered portraits
of sitters and their steeds in imitation of the Parisian fad for "photographie hippique." He also photographed the 1868 famine
in Algeria, and his image of people registering for food at Tagarin was translated into engraving for
L'Illustration (vol. 51, no. 1313, 1868). In 1879, Portier became a "correspondent" for the recently established Parisian photographic agency,
Bibliothèque photographie Giraudon (Giraudon cie), sending the firm monthly installments of photographic prints and albums.
Portier first published his
Guide catalogue Portier for Algiers in 1873. In addition to his "Avis aux etrangers" at the beginning of the volume and the guide to Algiers and
environs, the 1878 edition included an expanded catalogue of Portier's photographs and a concordance in French, Arabic, and
English of vocabulary useful for travelers.
Portier's premises were taken over by Alexandre Leroux in 1883. His negatives were likely acquired by a Parisian studio, most
probably either Léon & Levy or Neurdein frères.
Sources consulted:
Bedjaï, Marc.
Claude-Joseph Portier, photographe-paysagiste & photograveur à Alger et Blidah (?), 1863-1917: catalogue photographique, circa
1878
. Lille: Éditions Mélampedié, 2010.
Jacobson, Ken.
Odalisques and Arabesques. London: Bernard Quaritich Ltd., 2007.
Le Pelley Fonteny, Monique. Adolphe & Georges Giraudon: une bibliothèque photographique. Paris: Somogy; Bourges: Archives
départementales du Cher, 2005.
Portier, Claude-Joseph.
Guide catalogue Portier. Alger: Impr. de V. Aillaud et Cie, 1878.
Scope and Contents
The 20 albumen photographs in the album mostly depict the city of Algiers, and include views of streets in the casbah, gardens,
fountains, interiors, a mosque, the Governor's Palace, and the harbor. Images not of Algiers include a view on the route between
Algiers and Tipaza, a waterfall in the Vallée de l'Oued-Kébir in the province of Blidah, and a fountain in Birkhadem. Also
included are five studio portraits of Algerians.
The album binding is quarter leather with brown and tan marbled paper boards. The front cover bears a leather label with the
album's title gilt stamped on it; the title is also stamped on the spine. Eighteen of the 20 mounts bear the running title
above the images: Algérie Pittoresque. These same mounts have French captions printed below the images and the photographer's
imprint in their lower right corners: C. Portier, Pho. The photographs are albumen prints.
Arrangement
Arranged in a single series: Series I. Claude-Joseph Portier, Algérie pittoresque, 1870s.
Digitized Material
The collection was digitized by the repository and the images are available online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2004r6
Processing Information
The collection was processed and cataloged by Beth Ann Guynn in 2006. She wrote the finding aid in 2021.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographs, Original.
Albumen prints -- Algeria -- 19th century
Photograph albums -- Algeria -- 19th century
Studio portraits -- Algeria -- 19th century
Islamic architecture -- Algeria
Clothing and dress -- Algeria
Gardens -- Algeria
Mosques -- Algeria
Streets -- Algeria
Algeria -- Description and travel
Algiers (Algeria) -- Description and travel
Algerians -- Portraits
Blida (Algeria) -- Description and travel
France -- Colonies -- Africa
Claude-Joseph Portier, Algérie pittoresque, Series I.
1870s
Algérie pittoresque (digitized version)
Arrangement
In original order.
box 1, page Front paste-down endpaper
Front paste-down endpaper 2004.R.6-fpe
box 1, page Front free endpaper recto
Front free endpaper recto 2004.R.6-ffer
box 1, page Front free endpaper verso
Front free endpaper verso 2004.R.6-ffev
box 1, page 1 recto
Alger 2004.R.6-1r
Scope and Contents
View from the harbor.
box 1, page 2 recto
Mosquée à Alger 2004.R.6-2r
box 1, page 3 recto
Palais du Gouverneur (Mustapha Supérieur) 2004.R.6-3r
box 1, page 4 recto
Rue à Alger (haute-ville) 2004.R.6-4r
Scope and Contents
View along a narrow street in the old quarter.
box 1, page 5 recto
Rue à Alger (haute-ville) 2004.R.6-5r
Scope and Contents
View of a narrow street going uphill in the old quarter.
box 1, page 6 recto
Rue à Alger (haute-ville) 2004.R.6-6r
Scope and Contents
View looking up a street in the old quarter with round arches and figures in the sunlight beyond the arches.
box 1, page 7 recto
Rue à Alger (haute-ville) 2004.R.6-7r
Scope and Contents
Street with storefont in the old quarter.
box 1, page 8 recto
Intérieur mauresque 2004.R.6-8
box 1, page 9 recto
[Interior Courtyard] 2004.R.6-9r
Scope and Contents
No photographer's credit printed on mount.
box 1, page 10 recto
Birkadem (Fontaine Mauresque) 2004.R.6-10r
Scope and Contents
Birkhadem.
box 1, page 11 recto
Pointe pescade (route d'Alger à Tipaza) 2004.R.6-11r
box 1, page 12 recto
Jardin d'Essai (allée des palmiers) 2004.R.6-12r
box 1, page 13 recto
[Figure Looking up at a Stand of Palm Trees] 2004.R.6-13r
Scope and Contents
No photographer's credit printed on mount.
box 1, page 14 recto
Étude d'olivier 2004.R.6-14r
box 1, page 15 recto
Blidah (vallée de l'Oued-Kébir) 2004.R.6-15r
box 1, page 16 recto
Types Algériens 2004.R.6-16r
Scope and Contents
Studio portrait of an Algerian man seated in a chair with his left leg crossed.
box 1, page 17 recto
Types Algériens 2004.R.6-17r
Scope and Contents
Studio portrait of an Arabic woman standing with her arm resting on a draped object.
box 1, page 18 recto
Types Algériens 2004.R.6-18r
Scope and Contents
Studio portrait of a Bedouin woman standing in profile and holding a jug.
box 1, page 19 recto
Types Algériens 2004.R.6-19r
Scope and Contents
Studio portrait of a standing Black woman resting her hands on a shallow basket of fruit.
box 1, page 20 recto
Types Algériens 2004.R.6-20r
Scope and Contents
Studio bust portrait of a Black youth.
box 1, page Blank page 1 recto
Blank page 1 recto 2004.R.6-bl1r
box 1, page Blank page 1 verso
Blank page 1 verso 2004.R.6-bl1v
box 1, page Blank page 2 recto
Blank page 2 recto 2004.R.6-bl2r
box 1, page Blank page 2 verso
Blank page 2 verso 2004.R.6-bl2v
box 1, page Blank page 3 recto
Blank page 3 recto 2004.R.6-bl3r
box 1, page Back free endpaper verso
Back free endpaper verso 2004.R.6-bfev
box 1, page Black paste-down endpaper
Back paste-down endpaper 2004.R.6-bpe
