antique Native American albumin photo by George Wharton James Pima Si-Rup (CHS)

Description

A Vintage 1904 original 6" X 8" real out doors albumin photo showing a Native American Pima woman potter named Si-Rup in front of her Ramada along with another Pima lady.
This image can be found in the California Historical Society web site under "CHS 3654" under the title:
Pima Indian woman, Si-Rup, making "ollas", or water jugs, in Pima, Arizona, 1904
Photograph of a Pima Indian woman, Si-Rup, making "ollas", or water jugs, in Pima, Arizona, 1904. Si-Rup sits on the ground in front of the ramada of a native dwelling roughly constructed of vertical posts, horizontal beams and a thatched wall. She is barefoot. Her right hand is in an olla which sits on a woven ring. Another olla, also sitting on a ring, sits beside her. Another woman (Vaugh Kums' wife?) sits on the under the ramada in the background. Clothing and other household items litter the general area.
Call number
: CHS-3654
Photographer
: George Wharton James or Pierce, C.C. (Charles C.), 1861-1946
Filename
: CHS-3654
Coverage date
: 1904
Part of collection
: California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960
Good condition for the age of this item.
On the back a stamp can be seen: "George Wharton James, Pasadena, Ca." Originally his photo.
No where on this photograph is marked C.C.Pierce so it may have not been purchased by Pierce from G.W.James yet
George Wharton James
(27 September
1858
[1]
– 8 November
1923
)
[2]
was an American popular lecturer, photographer, journalist and editor. Born in
Lincolnshire, England
, he emigrated to the United States as a young man after being ordained as a Methodist minister.
He served in parishes in Nevada and Southern California, gradually beginning his journalism and writing career. An editor of two magazines, he also wrote more than 40 books and many articles and pamphlets on
California
and the
American Southwest
.
Charles Chester Pierce was born on November 22, 1861, in Springfield, Massachusetts. An engineer by training, Pierce migrated to Southern California in 1886. Pierce began his photographic career in the thriving boom town of Los Angeles, first in partnership with Albert H. Lohn, and then successively with J.B. Blanchard and A.E. McConnell. He established his own studio around 1900 at 313 Spring Street. He moved several times during his career, eventually expanding his business to include the sale of photographic supplies. The most outstanding aspect of his business, however, was the vast picture library he amassed over three decades at work. Aside from making his own photographs, Pierce acquired the negatives and prints of other regional photographers such as Emil Ellis, Parker and Knight, Ramsey, Herve Friend, L.M. Clendenon, George P. Thresher, GEORGE WHARTON JAMES, and F.M. Huddleston. Pierce eradicated the existing signatures from the photographs, stamped his own name on the images, and organized the lot into subject files. The consequence of Pierce's business practices assured that most, if not all, of the connections between the images and their original creator are now lost. However, the archive which he advertised as the "C.C. Pierce Collection of Rare, Historical and Curious Photographs, Illustrating California, the Pacific Coast and the Southwest," became an invaluable resource for researchers and boosters alike, all of whom came to Pierce's shop to locate an image for their purposes.
The C.C. Pierce collection constitutes one of the most important collections of historical photographs of early California and Los Angeles extant. The collection of 10,100 prints was assembled by Charles C. Pierce (1861-1946), a photographer and long-time operator of a thriving Los Angeles photographic business. The collection is divided into nine topical headings devised by Pierce. These include Los Angeles Historical; INDIANS; Missions; California cities, counties, etc.; Industries and Agriculture; Transportation; Natural History; Art and Architecture; and Miscellaneous Scenery. Within these large sections are smaller categories that focus on the history, landscape, people, civic and cultural events, built environment, and development of Southern California and the Southwest from approximately 1845-1930. Of particular interest are the various Indian tribes depicted as well as all twenty-one of the California Missions.
I am not an image grader but I have always liked this image. I have had it in my collection for many years.
My phone camera does not always show all the details that can be easily seen by the naked eye. This image is the best that my camera permits.
At my age it is time to let go as my two sons have not expressed a real interest in these types of things.
I will be listing more of my collection, so stay connected if interested.