Koch & Wilz, Panoramas of Paris, 1864-1884

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Summary

Title:

Koch & Wilz, Panoramas of Paris

Dates:

1864-1884

Creators:

Koch & Wilz

Abstract:

The album of 39 panoramic photographs by Koch & Wills includes 30 panoramas of Paris; two each of Trouville and Geneva; and one each of Versailles, Zürich and Schloss Heidelberg; as well as panoramas of an unidentified river town and an unidentified port.

Extent:

2.5 Linear Feet (1 album containing 39 photographs)

Language:

Collection material is in French with some Persian

Preferred citation:

Koch & Wilz, Panoramas of Paris, 1864-1884, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2016.R.36.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2016r36

Background

Scope and content:

The album of 39 albumen panoramas by Koch & Wilz includes 30 panoramas of Paris; two each of Trouville and Geneva; and one each of Versailles, Zürich, and Schloss Heidelberg; as well as panoramas of an unidentified town along a river and an unidentified port. The photographs were taken between 1864 and 1872. The panoramas of Paris document the city at the height of the Second Empire, with many of the city's iconic monuments, buildings and public spaces depicted. Included are views of the Louvre and the Hôtel de Ville taken before and after the fires set during the 1871 Paris Commune. Of a more ephemeral nature are two views of the 1867 Exposition universelle, whose buildings were destroyed shortly after the conclusion of the fair.

Thirty-four mounts bear the letterpress imprint: Appareil panoramique de Koch & Wilz. Phot. / 8 impasse Guéménée, Paris. Three mounts are blind stamped: Koch & Wilz. Impasse Guéménée 8 Paris. Two mounts have neither imprint nor blind stamp. These two panoramas, depicting the Louvre courtyard and Tuileries (2016.R.36-14) and view across the Seine to the Louvre (2016.R.36-19), have been attibuted to Paul-Augustin Gueuvin. While the exact nature of the association between Koch & Wilz and Gueuvin remains unclear, it is likely that additional panoramas contained in the album were also taken by Gueuvin.

The album is bound in tan morocco with gilt borders and decorations and gilt edges. Persian annotations are inked on the versos of most mounts. French annotations penciled on the versos were partially cut off when the mounts were trimmed for binding and are mostly illegible. A few mounts have French annotations penciled in a modern hand on their rectos.

The album was acquired by the Persian prince Amir Doust Mohammad Khan Moayer ol-Mamalek during his tour of Egypt and Europe in 1883 and 1884 (cf: Sotheby's, London, Travel, Atlases, Maps and Natural History, April 30, 2015, lot 69). The Persian inscriptions on the versos of the mounts were likely added sometime thereafter.

Arrangement

Arranged in a single series: Series I. Panoramas of Paris, 1864-1884.

Biographical / historical:

Georges-Laurent Koch and Antoine Wilz were Parisian cabinet makers, inventors and photographers established in the rue Saint-Antoine during the 1850s and 1860s. In the 1860s they invented a camera that took a panoramic image using a single negative.

The Parisian photographer, Paul-Augustin Gueuvin (born 1809) was associated with Louis-Auguste Bisson around 1851 at 11, boulevard des Italiens. Gueuvin had a studio at 20, rue Cassette, around 1862, moving to 30, boulevard d'Enfer at the end of the 1860s. He was also briefly associated with Edmund L. Thiboust. Gueuvin exhibited at the Société française de Photographie in 1863 and 1865. Gueuvin was both a portrait photographer and maker of city and architectural views, known for his documentation of Paris. Between 1867 and 1871 he used Koch & Wilz's single negative panoramic camera to produce striking views of Paris.

Sources consutlted:

____, Panoramas: photographies 1850-1950: collection Bonnemaison. Arles: Rencontres internationales de la photographie, 1989.

Voignier, J.-M. Répertoire des photographes de France au dix-neuvième siècle. Chevilly-Larue: Le Pont de Pierre, 1993.

Acquisition information:

Acquired in 2016.

Processing information:

The finding aid was written by Beth Ann Guynn and Nieves Maria Rocha in 2019.

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.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Paris (France) -- Description and travel
Albumen prints--France--19th century
Panoramas--France--19th century
Photograph albums -- France -- 19th century
Photographs, Original

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:: Beth Ann Guynn and Nieves Maria Rocha
Date Encoded:: This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2019-08-08 15:01:05 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:: Open for use by qualified researchers.
Terms of access:: Contact Library Reproductions and Permissions.