Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

2026 European Photography Auction

Wed, Oct 28, 2026 01:00PM EDT
  2026-10-28 13:00:00 2026-10-28 13:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : 2026 European Photography Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/2026-european-photography-auction-24401
Our October auction focuses on historic European photography, we are offering a curated collection of fine and erotic daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, CDV, cabinet cards, stereoviews, and a range of curious and uncommon nineteenth-century European vernacular material. At the center of the sale is a collection of images from the Paris Commune of 1871 and the surrounding “année terrible,” the year of war, siege, insurrection, and reprisal that reshaped France. The focus is on the people who drove those events and lived through their aftermath, and on the city that bore the damage.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 209

CDV, Bergeret, by Nadar, 35 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris

Estimate: $100 - $200
Starting Bid
$10

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
A bust-length portrait of a man identified on the reverse as Bergeret, captured as an albumen silver carte-de-visite by the atelier of Félix Nadar at 35 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris. Nadar operated his celebrated studio at that address from 1860 until 1872, placing this CDV firmly within that period. The Nadar studio was one of the most famous photographic establishments of the nineteenth century, and its distinctive red script signature appears on the face of this card as a printed monogram, consistent with the studio's well-known branding.

The subject is presented in a three-quarter view, his gaze directed upward and to his left, consistent with Nadar's practice of positioning sitters in three-quarter views and encouraging them to find their own poses. He wears a dark frock coat with a velvet collar and a large loosely knotted silk cravat over a white shirt. A decorative medal or badge with pendant ribbons is pinned prominently to his lapel, suggesting membership in a society or honorific organization. He wears a Van Dyke beard and mustache, his hair receding at the temples, and his expression is composed and slightly elevated in bearing.

Nadar's sitters included painters, sculptors, actors, writers, historians, philosophers, politicians, journalists, and musicians, as well as a broader bourgeois clientele, and the confidence and bearing of this sitter, combined with his decorative badge, point to a subject of some professional or civic standing in Second Empire Paris.

The reverse bears the large red printed signature "Nadar" at center and the printed studio imprint "35, Boulevard des Capucines / PARIS" at the lower right, with the name "Bergeret" inscribed in ink below the imprint.

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We ship for free on combined lot values of $500 or higher in the United States. We will be traveling to Paris November 8-14th and can deliver any of our items at Paris Photo or the show on Saturday.