Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Sat, Sep 19, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-19 11:00:00 2026-09-19 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/september-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-24380
Our September 2026 auction is anchored by two remarkable private collections, together making up about half the sale, alongside a broader selection of consignments spanning early photography, Civil War material, and vernacular imagery. The Soffer Collection, built with an eye for rarity and historical significance, is particularly strong in vernacular portraiture, Native American photographs, and Iowa Civil War imagery. The Palmer, Massachusetts collection, much of it found at Brimfield, centers on maker-marked daguerreotypes from the golden age of the American daguerreian studio.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 206

Albumen Prints, Taber, Colton and Crocker Mansions, SF

Estimate: $100 - $200
Starting Bid
$50

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
Two albumen photographs by Isaiah West Taber of San Francisco appear on a single album leaf, one on each side, both titled and numbered in the printed caption strips along the lower margins. The Stanford residence view, catalog number B 35, shows the Nob Hill mansion in a three-quarter frontal perspective, its Italianate facade presenting arched ground-floor colonnades, ornate bracketed cornices, a balustraded second-story terrace, and a decorative roofline parapet. Gas lamp standards flank the iron entry gate, and the broader San Francisco cityscape recedes into the distance behind the left wing.

The reverse carries catalog number B 892, captioned "New City Hall, San Francisco," depicting the civic complex under construction or in its early years of use, with a horse-drawn streetcar crossing the foreground intersection, a lone pedestrian standing at the corner, and two flanking domed structures visible at left and right.

Leland Stanford's Nob Hill mansion was completed in 1876 and destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire; Taber's documentation of it remains among the most reproduced architectural records of Gilded Age San Francisco. Both captions read "Taber Photo., San Francisco." The album page measures 8 1/2 by 12 1/4 inches, with each image approximately 4 3/4 by 7 1/4 inches.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer

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