Rare Photographs from the Danish West Indies

100 years have now passed since the Danish government sold the Danish West Indies to the United States. The anniversary is marked this year both in Denmark and on the islands in the Caribbean Sea with a variety of events, lectures and exhibitions. Here at the auction house the historic event is marked with the sale of a rare collection of poetry books, letters and early photographs, so-called daguerreotypes, of the Danish Commander Jørgen Levin Rohde’s (1786-1857) family from the period between c. 1842-1860.

One-of-a-kind Portraits of Masters and Servants

Original photographs from the mid-1800s are a rarity in and of themselves, and in this collection you can find not only a respected family from the exotic archipelago but also two of their cherished servants, the servant Henry and the wet nurse Nanna. Both servants were most likely close with Rohde's youngest son John Louis (born in 1837). It is a great rarity to find images of West Indian servants from this time. Daguerreotypes were “heavy” to produce and most often reserved for the bourgeoisie – not the servants and slaves. But Jørgen Levin Rohde's job as Commander and Captain of the port of St. Thomas as well as his distinguished career as a military man and author of a worldwide bestseller about port signals secured him a fortune that afforded him special opportunities to take care of his family and servants. And it seems as if he cherished all of them quite dearly. The daguerreotype is one of the earliest and most arduous forms of photography. It was the first known and effective way of fixing the images. The often very beautiful pictures were fixed with chemical "magic" on silver-plated sheets of copper in just one copy and placed in fine, little boxes.

Private Photographs of Frederik IX

The historical photographs are strongly represented at this auction, where we have a large selection of exciting vintage photographs from the mid-20th century from legendary photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, as well as a series of Magnum photographers and a set of original NASA photographs of the lunar surface. The historic photographs also include Danish topics and people such as a collection of photographs of arctic explorer Knud Rasmussen, and an album of private photos of the Danish royal family on tour with the "Dannebrog" ship during the 1950s. Here Vitus the valet has captured King Frederik IX in moments of relaxation by the water as well as the young crown princess Margrethe dressed up for a carnival on board the ship. 

Eerily Topical Photo Art

Some of the Danish art world's most acclaimed photographers are also represented at the auction. This includes the artist duo Trine Søndergaard and Nicolai Howalts with a set of photographs from the series "Dying Birds," as well as an entire photo series by Olafur Eliasson, which was exhibited at Louisiana in 2000. This time around we also recommend taking a closer look at a field image by Mario Giacomelli, a well known and highly sought after Italian photographer who created beautiful abstract motifs – often in black and white – of patterned furrows in the fields and who was quite the pioneer in his use of the camera. We end the auction with a selection of the British artist Gabrielle Farah's eerie, and unfortunately highly topical, pictures of the idyllic countryside and stately homes in England. On closer inspection, however, the pictures contain looming conflict and creepily masked, armed acquaintances. The images frame a sense of fear and pose relevant questions regarding the perceptions we form of others and of ourselves in the encounter with the unknown and sinister.

Preview and Auction

All the books and the other photographs up for auction can be viewed at our preview at Baltikavej 10 from Monday, 3 April to Tuesday, 4 April – both days 10 am – 5 pm. The hammer will fall from 6 pm on 4 April.

Read about the Taschen photo books up for auction

View all the lots of the photo auction here