- J-01889
- Item
- ca. 1894
Part of Agnes Deans Cameron fonds
A toned, black and white card mounted print of one of the annual “Gems of British Columbia" composite works produced by photographer Hannah Maynard of Mrs. R. Maynard’s Photographic Gallery.
Mrs. R. Maynard was an artist, as well as a photographer. She was known for producing experimental works that involved photographic techniques such as double and multiple exposures, photo-sculptures, as well as composite and cut-and-paste montage imagery. The "Gems of British Columbia" series features portrait montages of selected children, largely Anglo-European subjects as well as a number of sitters from early Chinese and Black pioneering families, photographed throughout the year. These were sent as New Year's greeting cards to clients from 1881 until about 1895. In the 1880s, these composite photographs, which sometimes incorporated photo sculptures (also known as “Living Sculptures”) were published annually in the trade publication St. Louis Photographer (also known as St. Louis and Canadian Photographer).
The composite photograph represents the “Gem” for 1894 and features the portraits of children and babies surrounding a star at the center of the image. The center image of the star also contains tiny portraits that could represent another work in the “Gems” series from a previous year. The inclusion and repurposing of older montage works within the composite image created for the year is a characteristic common to some of the designs of Mrs. R. Maynard’s greeting cards. The words “B.C. Gems 1894” are spelled out in flowers and branches around the edges of the image. Other designs in the series include children and babies framed within squares, stars, ovals, crowns, and diamond shapes. In addition, similar montages appear superimposed on plants, shells, jugs, and an artist palette of which some of these were also used as new year greetings as is the case for the “The ‘Gem’ Begonia” card mounted print of 1892.
Maynard, Hannah (Hatherly)