Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Wed, Jun 24, 2026 11:00AM EDT
Lot 221

RPPC, Five-Pose Multigraph Portrait, Orpheum Studio, Chicago

Estimate: $100 - $200

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 single unidentified woman appears five times in the same composition in this real photo postcard multigraph by The Orpheum Photograph Studio, 110-112 South State Street, opposite the Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois, dated November 1912 in a period hand on the reverse. The studio identified itself on the reverse as "The Largest and Best Equipped Novelty Photo Studio in the World," and this card demonstrates the multigraph technique at a high level of technical accomplishment, with no visible seams or ghosting between the five successive exposures.

The subject wears a dark satin dress with a deep V-shaped panel of lace at the neckline and lace-trimmed cuffs, her dark hair dressed in the elaborate upswept style fashionable in 1912. The illusion created is of the woman holding hands with her reflections around a low dark table, in a pose that evokes a séance or ring game, lending the image an atmospheric and slightly mysterious quality against the dark backdrop.

The Orpheum Photograph Studio operated at a prominent downtown Chicago address adjacent to the Orpheum Theatre building and opposite the Palmer House hotel, positioning itself to capture tourist and entertainment district clientele. The reverse bears penciled catalog notations at the upper edge.

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