Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Wed, Jun 24, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-06-24 11:00:00 2026-06-24 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/june-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-23574
Our June 2026 auction presents a focused and exceptional selection of historical photographs spanning the 1840s through the early twentieth century, with unusual depth in named subjects, rare formats, and documented provenance anchored by strong vernacular material that rewards close looking.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 389

CDV, Victor Hugo, No Imprint, Full-Length Standing Portrait

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 $5,000
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
Victor Hugo is portrayed in a full-length standing CDV in a formal studio pose, the front mount bearing no photographer's imprint, showing the French novelist and poet in his later years standing beside an ornately carved chair and table in a dark frock coat and waistcoat. Hugo faces the camera directly, his distinctive broad forehead and composed expression visible, with his left hand resting on the chair back and his posture upright and commanding. The studio setting includes draped fabric and decorative furniture arranged around the standing figure.

The printed red notation on the reverse reads 1175. Victor Hugo., identifying this as part of a numbered commercial portrait series. No studio imprint appears on either face of the card, consistent with a distributed reproduction rather than an original studio issue.

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) was the towering figure of French Romanticism and one of the most celebrated writers in the history of French literature, author of Les Misérables (1862), Notre-Dame de Paris (1831), Hernani (1830), and the poetry collections Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles. He served in the Assemblée nationale, was exiled for nineteen years under Napoleon III, and returned to France in 1870 as a national hero. His state funeral in 1885 drew over two million people to the streets of Paris, and his ashes were interred in the Panthéon.

The reverse bears the printed red catalog notation 1175. Victor Hugo. with dealer code X 90.

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