meadows@meadowscollection.com

e-mail:
meadows@meadowscollection.com

The Meadows Collection
Adela & Mark Meadows

We eventually answer all
correspondence...we could be out and about beating the bushes for unusual treasures, so please
be patient.

PayPal and, as well, we are famous for our slow, painless lay-a-ways.

You’ll notice that prices are not shown; this is done not only to insure our customers’ privacy, but because many items are bought as gifts and still others are sold to dealers and interior designers...situations where the price is better left unpublished.  It's also a way to encourage communication. More often than not, all of the wonderful characteristics of a piece can’t be squeezed into the description area and besides, do you really want everyone to know what you paid for something?

So, if you would like a price on something, have any questions or need more information, please remember that we’re just a click away!

Ready?...slippers on? Let’s go shopping!

The following selection of vintage photographs all include a professionally-cut, acid-free mat...

Vintage Paris Photograph...signed Chapman

A cleverly surreal image of a couple of nuns descending into a Paris métro or subway station...


The black and white silver print image measures 5 inches by 3.125 inches and is on heavy textured art paper measuring 5.5 inches by 3.5 inches. It has been professionally matted...the mat measures 12.875 inches by 9.75 inches.

The reverse side of the photograph has been stamped so that it would function as a post card...



...there is also a stamped notation that reads "Photo-Chapman".  It may have been originally intended as an offering in conjunction with an exhibit of Chapman's work as it was not printed on commercial, mass-produced postcard stock.

The nuns are wearing the habit of the religious order known as the Daughters of Charity...an order founded by Saint Vincent de Paul in 1630. Their distinctive cap was the inspiration behind The Flying Nun television series. The order still exists, but abandoned the practice of wearing their elaborate garb in 1965.

The photograph dates from circa  1950 and is in excellent condition...the images above are direct scans...no retouching.

Vintage AGIP Agency Photograph...Robert Cohen

Another surreal humanist image...the news agency tag on the back of this vintage black and white silver print notes that the aspect of the worker carrying an automobile radiator grill is rather curious...and we agree!

Directed by Robert Cohen, AGIP...Agence d'Illustration pour la Presse...was, as its name indicates, an agency providing images for the press. This particular image was taken on October 22, 1947 when the AGIP agency was located on rue Fontaine in Paris, France.

The photograph measures 7.0625 inches high by 5.0625 inches wide and was intended to illustrate an article about the activity at the Grand Palais due to the impending opening of the Salon de l'Automobile. It has been professionally matted...the mat measures 12.875 inches by 9.75 inches.

The tag attached to the reverse of the photograph:

 

The photo is in excellent condition...the images above are direct scans...no retouching. There are a few faint spots from the original processing, but nothing to detract from its impact as an image.

Vintage Keystone Agency Photograph/Army Blimp Flies Over New York City

Another news agency photograph...this one has the stamp of the Keystone View Co...working for Le Journal in Paris, France. The press tag on the reverse explains the scene:

Written in French, it translates as:

"Higher than the Skyscrapers

Here an American Army blimp scrapes the skyscrapers of New York as it advertises an upcoming grand military festival. The enormous buildings appear to stretch their forty floors to catch the monster as it passes overhead."

The name and date of the event can be seen written on the side of the blimp...Garden Party Governors Island June 18. The popular annual event was a fund-raiser for widows and orphans of army personnel. The island lies just 800 yards off of Manhattan and was known to the native Indians as Pagganck...meaning Nut Island after the island’s plentiful hickory, oak and chestnut trees. In 1637, a Dutch settler purchased the island from the Indians reportedly for two ax heads, a string of beads and a handful of nails.

The English first took over the island in 1664 and it was used for the next century by the King's Governors.  American Revolutionary troops confiscated the island and built two fortifications: Fort Jay and Castle Williams. The American Army controlled the island until 1966 when it was taken over by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard utilized the island until 1995 and in 2004 it was ceremoniously sold for the sum of one dollar to the people of New York state.

The photograph shows Manhattan as it used to be...it measures 7.375 inches wide and 5.4375 inches high. It has been professionally matted...the mat measures 12.875 inches by 9.75 inches. The images  above are direct scans...no retouching. It is in reasonable condition...with some barely noticeable crinkles to the lower right corner.

Vintage Keystone Agency Photograph/Can-Can Dancing Dolls

A surreal scene of dancing dolls in a German toy factory.

A Keystone View Company photograph...

...the back has the stamp of Keystone's Berlin office as well as the image description...in German. The Keystone View Company had its beginnings in Pennsylvania as publishers of stereocards; as the public's interest in stereoviews waned, the firm expanded to act as a photographic agency. Active from the 1890s to the 1940s, Keystone had offices throughout the world, its photographers responsible for images produced for many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines.

The photograph measures 7.75 inches wide by 5.75 inches high. It dates from circa 1930 and is in reasonable condition...the images above are direct scans...no retouching. There is a small tear top center that has been attended to with archival tape; as well, there are small missing areas on the top, left, and bottom edges; the lower right corner has been folded and the other corners are slightly rubbed. Once matted and framed, none of this will be apparent...only the great image!

Vintage View of the Empire State Building...World Wide Photos
Another agency photograph, this very dramatic image...featuring New York's Empire State Building...was taken when it was the tallest building in the world.

The label on the back of the image shows that it was a Wide World Photos image destined for the New York Times' office on rue Réaumur in Paris. The hand-written notation is in French...L'édiface le plus haut du monde à New York...meaning "the tallest building in the world in New York".

The images above are direct scans...no retouching. A silver print, it measures 4.675 inches by 6.5 inches. The image is clear and sharp...there is one pinhole in the extreme top right edge. Great angle of view!

Vintage Keystone Agency Photograph...Airport Employees

A great image of ten women outfitted in flight suits and googles...the hand-written caption on the reverse...

...describes them as being Servantes d'un avion-restaurant en amerique...which translates to "waitresses in an American airport  restaurant". The image is stamped by the Paris office of the Keystone View Company.

The images above are direct scans...no retouching. A silver print, it measures 6.675 inches by 4.6875 inches. The image is clear and somewhat sharp...there are some dust spots in the dark areas and there is one crinkle along the top left edge...overall, a great image.

Vintage Photograph of the Tour de France...1938...Tenth Stage

A vintage press photo for the popular French newspaper Paris-Soir ...published from 1923 to 1944. It shows the tenth stage of the famous Tour de France bicycle race for 1938...for that year, that stage went from Perpignan to Monpellier. The image shows the race leaders crossing the village of Agde in the Hérault department of southern France. The 1938 race is distinguished as being the first time derailleur gears were allowed in the competition. The end of the Tour saw the race end in a tie...two Frenchmen, Antonin Magne and André Leducq were the winners.

The image is a direct scan...no retouching. A silver print, it measures 5.3125 inches by 7.0625 inches...printed on paper that is 5.8125 inches by 7.8125 inches. The image is clear and sharp...there is one slight crinkle under the vin sign on the center of the far left edge that is not visible when viewed straight on and there is a small scratch on the middle of the right edge. Pinholes along the edges do not show when the photo is matted.

Vintage Photograph of the Tour de France...1938...Twelfth Stage

A vintage press photo for the popular French newspaper Paris-Soir ...published from 1923 to 1944. It shows the twelfth stage of the famous Tour de France bicycle race for 1938...for that year, that stage went from Marseille to Cannes. The image shows the race leaders along the Gorges d'Ollioules. The 1938 race is distinguished as being the first time derailleur gears were allowed in the competition. The end of the Tour saw the race end in a tie...two Frenchmen, Antonin Magne and André Leducq were the winners.

A great image...one that also captures the craziness of the spectators...one man along the retaining wall is doing a hand-stand to show his support!  

The image is a direct scan...no retouching. A silver print, it measures 5.25 inches by 7 inches...printed on paper that is 5.75 inches by 7.8125 inches. The image is clear and sharp...there are pinholes along the edge that do not show when the photo is matted.       

Vintage Photograph of the Tour de France...1939

A vintage press photo for the popular French newspaper Paris-Soir ...published from 1923 to 1944.  The dawn of World War II saw several changes to this particular race of 1939. Individual racers were no longer allowed and no teams from Germany, Italy, or Spain competed for political reasons.

The image shows the race leaders under the poplar trees before the entrance to the town of Saint-Genis...near Geneva at the foot of the southern Jura Mountains.

The winning team in 1939 was Belgium...the famous mallot jaune or yellow jersey...was won by  Sylvière Maies of Belgium. (The Tour de France would not resume until 1947).

The image is a direct scan...no retouching.  A silver print, it measures 5.3125 inches by 6.675 inches...printed on paper that is 5.8125 inches by 7.875 inches. The image is clear and sharp...there are pinholes in the top corners that do not show when the photo is matted.
 

Vintage Darkroom Safelight Light Bulb Cover

The good ol' days of photography required some real hardiness and ingenuity on the part of the photographer. For example, some of the early development processes required total darkness at all times...

...this is a portable darkroom used in Ireland in the 19th century for processing wet collodion plates...they not only had to be processed in the dark, but they had to be processed before the chemicals dried!

Some years later, the popular papers used for printing in black and white were not sensitive to the color red and photographers began to use filters or special red light bulbs so that they could see and not have to develop their work in total darkness.


Once de rigueur for an innovative photographer's darkroom, this darkroom light bulb cover was set over an existing traditional light bulb, creating a "safelight".  Rather than a self-contained normal light bulb made with red glass, this was a unique solution that was specifically marketed to the traveling photographer..  3.875 inches high with an opening that measures 1.375 inches in diameter, it is in unused condition...

...although the ring around the opening has a bit of corrosion...the ring is marked Junius Sociétié des Brevettes.

...and the top has the original label from a long-gone Paris photographer supply store still affixed!

It dates from the early days of the twentieth century...circa 1910 or so...this type of portable or temporary safe light was used in French photography laboratories and medical laboratories as well...it was nicknamed manchon rubis...meaning ruby red sleeve.

No reason why it can't still be used as it was originally intended, but this would also make a great decorative item and unusual gift...perhaps paperweight...for a photographer.

 
Click here for more Vintage Photography and Photographica