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An original 10.5x14" antique albumen photo (NOT a modern reprint) from a collection of large, original Sydney, Australia regional albumen photographs that we acquired at an estate sale in London. Professionally packaged in a rigid mailer for safe delivery.
Photo Overview
This large original albumen photograph captures the magnificent Australian Joint Stock Bank headquarters on the corner of George Street and Barrack Street in Sydney, New South Wales, photographed circa 1892. The grand Victorian Italianate banking palace dominates the image, its ornate facade featuring rows of Corinthian columns, sculptural pediments, allegorical figures flanking the corner entrance, and a distinctive mansard roof crowned with elaborate cresting. The five-storey edifice was one of the most imposing commercial buildings in colonial Sydney.
The streetscape is alive with period detail - horse-drawn carriages, a wooden electric tramway power pole running down the middle of the street, pedestrians in Victorian dress, and a row of shopfronts including a pharmacy, the B. Gould New York Tailor, and a stand selling \'Pure Country Milk.\' Captured from an elevated vantage point by the New South Wales Government Printer, this view forms part of the official Government Printing Office series documenting the colony\'s principal buildings and city scenes. A wonderful large-format window into late 19th century Sydney commercial life and one of the city\'s lost architectural treasures.
Historical Notes
The Australian Joint Stock Bank was founded in 1853 and rose to become one of the colony\'s leading financial institutions. This grand George Street headquarters, completed in the 1880s, stood as a symbol of its prosperity. Within just a year or two of this photograph, however, the bank was swept up in the catastrophic Australian banking crisis of 1893, when a wave of bank failures rocked the colonies following the collapse of the land boom. The Australian Joint Stock Bank suspended payments in 1893, reconstructed itself, and eventually re-emerged as the Australian Bank of Commerce before being absorbed by the Bank of New South Wales in 1931. The imposing building seen here was later demolished as George Street was redeveloped, making surviving images such as this an important record of vanished colonial Sydney architecture.
Text Present
Lower right of image: "AUSTRALIAN JOINT STOCK BANK - SYDNEY."
Lower left of mount: "1911. 148 - 15." (institutional cataloging number)
On signage within the image: "B. GOULD NEW YORK TAILOR" / "PURE COUNTRY MILK" / "PHARMACY" / various shopfront signs
Print analysis
This is an original albumen photograph dating to circa 1892, mounted on its original presentation board as issued by the New South Wales Government Printer. The warm sepia tonality, characteristic albumen surface sheen, period mount, and printed in-negative caption are all consistent with a Type 1 original albumen print produced contemporaneously with the negative in the early 1890s. The \'1911\' number is an institutional catalog reference rather than a print date.
Condition
In fair to good antique condition. Most of the images in this series have age related foxing and curling, particularly to the edges of the white borders. Please check photos for precise details. In general though the print areas are in decent condition, and images could be matted nicely.
