Marcel Safier Collection

This full-length studio carte-de-visite portrait of an unidentified woman in a hat, holding her umbrella and bag in gloved hands, was taken by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1871 at his studio, the City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart, Tasmania. The cdv gives a clear view of his studio decor at that time: the lozenge-patterned carpet; the shiny leather-covered slipper chair; the table with griffin-shaped legs; and the painted wall hanging featuring a patio terrace, balustrade, and meandering river disappearing into the distance.

Thomas Nevin did not include the middle initial "J" in his stamp on the verso of these earlier commercial 1870s portraits and stereographs. His designation, "T. J. Nevin Photographic Artist", was printed only on  his government contractor stamp bearing the Royal Arms colonial warrant insignia from late 1872 to 1876 to signify that he was a government contractor while still operating as a commercial photographer from his Elizabeth Street studio. 

Subject: unknown older woman in hat seated with bag and umbrella
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1872
Location: 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart, Tasmania
Courtesy © The Private Collection of Marcel Safier 2005 ARR.

Verso of portrait of woman in a hat holding her umbrella and bag
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1872
Location: 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart, Tasmania
Courtesy © The Private Collection of Marcel Safier 2005 ARR. 

NOTES Courtesy of owner Marcel Safier:

Subject: (woman with bag and umbrella) not known.
Provenance: "It came in an album I bought from a Tasmanian dealer at a Sydney collector's fair in 2001. The pencil numbering on the rear is my own cataloguing system."
Size: "The mount is 64mm x 102mm ... It very closely resembles the mounts used by Bock previously."

Many thanks to Marcel Safier for this contribution (2007).