Rare photo of Susan B. Anthony found in attic heading to auction

When David Whitcomb bought a property in Geneva, New York, he had no idea there were more than 1,000 antique treasures — possibly worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — hidden inside.

Those treasures, including several rare photos of women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, are going up for auction on September 18 at One Source Auctions and estimated to fetch between $150,000 and $200,000.

The star lot of the J.E. Hale Skylight Studio auction is a rare photo of Anthony taken by Geneva, New York, photographer James “J.E.” Hale in November 1905, a few months before she died on March 13, 1906. Hale gave the copyright to the photo to the Susan B. Anthony Memorial Association, which selected it as her official photograph. The framed 20-inch by 16-inch photograph is one of four known to exist, including one in the US Library of Congress, the listing said. Opening bid is $5,000.

J. E. Hale’s rare photograph of Susan B. Anthony, taken at Lochland in 1905. This is one of the last photographs taken of her and only four known to exist, with one at the U.S. Library of Congress, and two in this auction. The opening bid is $5,000.

Courtesy of One Source Auctions

A few weeks after Whitcomb, an attorney, bought the building for his law firm in late 2020, he discovered the photograph, along with more of Hale’s photography, in a hidden studio that had been abandoned for decades.

Whitcomb told CNN in February that the studio area had been sealed off by a drop ceiling that had been installed decades earlier when the building’s third floor was turned into an apartment. He said that the first thing he saw when he made the discovery was a bunch of turn-of-the-century photographs in gold and gilded frames. The studio was also full of more than 1,000 antiques.

The long-overlooked studio of photographer J.E. Hale.

Courtesy of David J. Whitcomb

“These frames are gorgeous, they’re the turn-of-the-century, they’re gold, gilded, and they shone really bright and I was like ‘Oh my God,'” he said in February. “I lowered myself and said ‘I think we just found the Goonies treasure.'”

Born in 1850, Hale had photographed President Grover Cleveland’s fiancé Francis Folsom in 1885, as well as many other early suffragists, displaying their portraits at the 1907 New York State Woman Suffrage Association in Geneva.

This self-portrait of photographer James Ellery Hale, c. 1900, is one of the lots in the auction. Opening bid is $25.

Courtesy of One Source Auction

Also being auctioned is this c. 1890 ornate gesso silver gilt and wood picture frame with leaves and florals.

Courtesy of One Source Auctions

Whitcomb also discovered cameras and other gear, furniture, decor, and portraits of other 20th-century faces. He said he has spent months working on cleaning, identifying, and restoring the collection alongside One Source Auctions. In the lead-up to the auction, he has also been sharing updates about the collection on a dedicated Facebook page.

Source link

Tags: Collectible