One of the oldest photographs from Iceland lost
One of the oldest photographs of the 19th century from Iceland, taken by Reykjavik Harbor, was lost in the auction house Stockholms extra work after it was sold to the highest bidder.
Arni Freyr Magnússon historian says that when he saw the film advertised at an auction, he examined whether a copy of the film was available at the National Museum. When it came to light, he did not make a decision to make an offer in the film.
He says he has been involved in the auction with a view to giving the photo library of Iceland the picture and adding it to the collection option. Luck was with him where he was the highest bidder. Once the transmission was reported, he was notified that the photograph was lost.
« I do not know what on earth has happened to them and I do not think this is a professional practice, especially with as experienced as an old auction house. This is the oldest operating auction house in the world, founded in 1674.
He says he does not want to suspect anyone about Greek, but the idea is undeniably waking up whether the film was simply stolen or whether any employee has lost it.
« There are not a lot of pictures from Iceland from this time and they have lost this. »
Árni believes that it is obvious that the auction house had the photograph in hand when it was registered and photographed before the auction. He then received an email from the auction house that the picture was lost.
Serious if auction house loses
« Photographs of the film had been taken, put it on the web and brought it to the auction house.
The photograph is among the oldest images taken in Iceland and is a so-called « stereo image » which is a picture that gives a sense of 3D by showing two different images of the same object-one for each eye. These two images are taken from a slightly different perspective, as the eyes see the world from slightly different location. When the brain combines these two images, a depth sense is formed, which evokes three -dimensional perception. The film was taken by RJ Henry, a British captain, in the years 1858-1862.
The auction of the photograph was from the collection of Ove Renqvist (1938–2023), which was a Swedish filmmaker, photographer, bookkeeper and collector. He was known for collecting items related to photography technology, including stereo images. He had one of Sweden’s largest collections of stereo films and is considered among the country’s leading experts in photography history from 1840 to the beginning of the 20th century.
Inquiry to the auction house
Morgunbladid sent an inquiry to the Swedish auction house Stocholms extra work, which requested explanation as to why the image sold to Icelandic collectors had not been delivered.
« In these unusual and extremely sad circumstances, we hold constructive conversations with the customer, who gets refunded, » says Dan Dan Panas, Stockholm’s Media Manager Extuations.
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