American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography, including The Larry Ness Collection of Native American Photography

7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. albumen photograph on 9 1/2 x 13 in. cardstock mount, faintly titled in negative. Lack's Notman's imprint but from his negative.

A father, mother, their two children, and a dog casually pose in front of their tipi. The man, wearing a war shirt, smokes a pipe and the family's travois can be seen leaning against the dwelling.

Provenance: Cowan's, Historic Americana, 7 June 2008, Lot 230.

William Notman (1826-1891) was born in Scotland, but emigrated to Canada in 1856. He established a photography studio in Montreal, producing images with varying content, ranging from trains and trestles, to portraiture, to the rapidly vanishing aboriginal peoples of North America. Very shortly after his arrival in Montreal, he began documenting the construction of the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence. The Prince of Wales attended the opening, and was presented with a box of Notman's photos of the construction. The acclaim from the royals helped cement his reputation. 

Along with his sons, Charles F. Notman, George W. Notman, and William McFarlane Notman, he opened studios in other Canadian and US cities, including seasonal ones at Yale and Harvard to capture the students for posterity. He also regularly contributed to the Philadelphia Photographer, and with the journal's editor, Edward Wilson, formed the Centennial Photographic Company to document the American centennial exhibition in 1876. When he died in 1891, Notman's photographic studio was taken over by his sons.