[UNTITLED SILVER PRINT PHOTOGRAPH] by Holden, T.S - n.d.

S.l., n.d.. Very Good. Large original silver print (345 x 268 mm). Signed "T.S. Holden (c)." On stiff paper with a slightly yellowed back. Residue of hanging material on back at the top of the print, small stains along edges, pencil inscription on back. Preserved in a mylar L-sleeve with lig-free card backing. In every way a remarkable photograph, the luminous silver and black both reflect and absorb light, with eerie effect.

The name of this outstanding "amateur" photographer is T.S. Holden, as we learn from the signature on the lower right hand corner of the silver print. No further information about him or her has been forthcoming. However that may be, we are struck by this haunting, even melancholic scene, portraying a bare and somewhat desolate (winter?) landscape. Although silver prints are highly susceptible to deterioration due to the oxidation of the silver, our photograph survives in remarkable condition.

The gelatin silver photographic process was first developed by Richard Leach Maddox in 1871, with significant improvements made in 1878 by Charles Harper Bennett. Though silver paper was commercially produced as early as 1874, it was not made widely available to the public until the 1890s.

MUST BE SEEN TO BE FULLY APPRECIATED.