Return to Crimean War: First Conflict to Be Documented in Detail by Photography   Leon-Eugene Mehedin - Batterie Russe Repechee Full Size Contact: Alex Novak and Marthe Smith Email: info@vintageworks.net Phone: +1-215-822-5662 Company: Contemporary Works / Vintage Works, Ltd. Company: 258 Inverness Circle Company: Chalfont, PA   18914   USA URL: http://www.vintageworks.net Ref.#: 5797 Price: $25,000 Medium: Dilute albumen print from waxed paper negative Mount: on original mount Image Date: 1855-56 Print Date: 1856-1860 Dimensions: 10-1/16 x 12-9/16 in. (256 x 319 mm) Photo Country: Crimea Photographer Country: France Description: Signed and titled in ink on the recto of the mount below image. With Frederick von Martens blindstamp on recto of mount. Possibly printed by Martens. Extremely rare image. Mehedin was a student of Le Gray's and a noted architect. The album that this image came from bore the inscription: "Souvenirs de Crimee: A son Excellence Monsieur Fould Ministre d'Etat et de la Maison de l'Empereur par le Colonel Ch. Langlois." Provenance: Photographer Langlois; Monsieur Achille Fould, French Minister of State and the Imperial House, who, according to the Dictionnaire du Second Empire by Jean Tulard, was the next ranking official after the Emperor himself. He was a member of the Jewish banking family, becaming first Minister of State responsible for cultural affairs , then Minister of Finance in 1861 to his death in 1867. See: Jammes and Janis, The Art of French Calotype, p.219 and pl.114 on the next page for information on this obscure photographer and a similar study in the Crimean; also see Seguin, Naef, Marbot, et. al., After Daguerre: Masterworks of French Photography, pl.100-101 for other studies and more information on the photographer. Shipping and insurance costs will be added to the price and must be paid for by the buyer. Pennsylvania and New York buyers must pay appropriate sales tax. International clients are responsible for their VAT and other custom's oriented charges.