Carleton Watkins

The mammoth plate from which this print is cropped was taken at the same position as (Naef & Hult-Lewis Cat. 170), with a slight deviation in composition. These cropped prints were likely made in the mid-1880's, when higher demand for smaller, more portable prints compelled Watkins to reinterpret his earlier images in cropped formats. The print is mounted to its original album leaf; the album was comprised of Grand Tour photographs compiled by a noble Swiss family. Titled in ink mount recto in an unknown hand; likely signed and titled by Watkins in pencil on the reverse of the print. Other Watkins prints from this album that were unmounted for conservation bore Watkins' signature and title, characteristic of his hand; however, this print has not been unmounted, so the presence of a signature cannot be confirmed.