Artist
Charles T. Scowen(British, 1852–1948)British, 1852–1948
CultureBritish
Titles
- Liberian Coffee Blossom, Ceylon
Datec. 1880
MediumAlbumen silver print from glass negative
DimensionsImage: 10 7/16 × 7 15/16 in. (26.5 × 20.2 cm)
Sheet: 10 7/16 × 7 15/16 in. (26.5 × 20.2 cm)
Mount: 16 15/16 × 12 1/2 in. (43.1 × 31.7 cm)
Sheet: 10 7/16 × 7 15/16 in. (26.5 × 20.2 cm)
Mount: 16 15/16 × 12 1/2 in. (43.1 × 31.7 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Joan Morgenstern in memory of Paula Ann Neumann, Landscaper
Object number2019.419
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
Charles T. Scowen produced some of the finest examples of early commercial photography in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka). English by birth, Scowen arrived in Ceylon in early 1873 and opened a photographic studio in 1876. Flower and plant studies of exceptional quality, such as Liberian Coffee Blossom, were a specialty of his studio. Under British colonial rule, coffee had become a highly profitable cash crop by the 1860s, but by the time Scowen would have taken this photograph, a fungus had laid to waste the majority of Ceylon coffee plantations.
Provenance[Dominic Winter Auctioneers, 19th & 20th Century Photography, John Thomson, China & Hong Kong, Photobooks, Cameras & Accessories, October 3, 2019, Lot 35]; purchased by MFAH, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in black ink, mount recto, lower center below image: Liberian coffee – blossom - Ceylon
Inscribed in pencil, sheet verso, lower right sideways: 1122
Inscribed in pencil, sheet verso, lower right sideways: 1122
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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Charles T. Scowen
c. 1873
Albumen silver print from glass negative
2018.186
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Albumen silver print from glass negative
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