Rare and wonderful, this is a c.1860s hand carved Swiss Black Forest hand carved hunt themed photo album. The Carte de Visite photos for which this was made were popularly made c.1860-70, after which time the larger paper photographs known as cabinet card photos took over popularity and use. Carved wood plaques front and back, and original leather spine, heavy brass edging which still has both clasps in place, and all of the interior thick pages, each one holding 8 photos (4 on each side). The edges of the photo album pages remain a bright gold. Remarkable condition for an album of its age. Full measurements noted on the photos.
Very good to excellent condition for age and type, hardly any this old remain completely intact, and as you can see, while the spine is still tight, a few of the pages to the front of album could use some restoration at inner spine. They're not completely apart, but not completely tight against the flexible fabric inner spine. Pages show no moisture, very little foxing, though it's apparent someone has removed a lot of photos, and a few places where the paper into which they fit have some tears (you can see them in our photos to see what I mean). Inner sleeve is missing on about the front half. I suspect no photos were in the back half of the album. Visible in photos of spine, you see age showing and a little split at fold top, or roughness but still beautiful. This will be a great find for photograph collectors, but I've also seen these hollowed out in a fitting for a hand gun, or for cigars.
