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 337

Stereoview, Place Vendôme and Colonne Vendôme, Paris, No. 29

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 yellow-mounted stereoview from a numbered Paris views series captures Place Vendôme and its celebrated column from a street-level vantage point angled across the square. The albumen print, produced from a wet-collodion negative and dating to the 1860s or early 1870s, presents the scene with the clarity and tonal depth typical of the best French commercial stereo production of that period. No photographer's imprint appears on the mount.

The foreground opens onto the broad unpaved expanse of the square, with a horse-drawn carriage visible at the right and ornate iron lamp standards lining the near edge of the street. The Colonne Vendôme rises at center distance, the dominant vertical landmark of Place Vendôme, partially screened by a tall ornamental column in the nearer plane. The facing block of Second Empire Haussmannian buildings fills the left and center of the frame, their elaborately carved mansard rooflines, arched ground-floor shop fronts, and awnings rendered in sharp detail.

The Colonne Vendôme was commissioned by Napoleon I between 1806 and 1810 to commemorate the victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, and was torn down during the Paris Commune of 1871 before being reconstructed. Its continuous ribbon of bas-relief bronze plates was cast from 1,200 cannons captured from the combined armies of Russia and Austria at Austerlitz. The column's presence in the view, intact and unscaffolded, is consistent with a date before May 1871.

The left vertical border of the yellow card mount carries the printed label "29 Place et Colonne Vendôme (vues de Paris)" (29 Place and Colonne Vendôme [Views of Paris]), identifying this card as number 29 in a titled Paris series. The reverse bears pencil notations reading "10/19/09," "LOBAXZ," and "Eb."

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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.