Ever wondered how portrait photographers got around to clients in the 19th century? This historic and extremely well preserved photography studio on wheels is spectacularly stunning, and could be yours to own as it makes its way to the Charterhouse Auction gavel in just a few days, on 05 August 2022.
Spending most of its life travelling around the Dorset coast, near Swanage, UK, this beautiful studio was originally commissioned to capture seaside visitors over the years. Owned and operated by father and son photographers, John and Walter Pouncy, from Dorchester – among other posterior professional photographers that the studio would later be utilized by.
The victorian age traveling photographer’s studio is said to have first commenced business during the mid-1800s, and was supposedly escorted around Dorset and drawn by up to three horses as it navigated its way along the seaside roads. The studio is expected to fetch a pretty high price when it goes to auction in the Charterhouse two-day 'August auction' event on the 4th and 5th this month.
The auctioneers have stated that the studio has undergone a previous restoration, though, it will need a little conservation and TLC from its new owner to fulfill its potential. The studio still has its interior with fittings for retaining various backdrops, with a small darkroom that was once used for the changing and processing of plates, as well as boasting a glazed roof and side sections that allow light to flood in, its own entrance and exit, with sprung wheels.
An estimated price of between £8,000-12,000 ($9,700 - $14,600 / AU$14,000 - AU$21,000) could be accumulated for the sale of this unique photographers studio at the Charterhouse Auction gavel, hopefully finding the perfect new home for the mobile photo studio where it can be restored and preserved, remaining in Dorset.
The current location of the mobile photography studio is at a field near Wareham, where it has resided for several decades under its current ownership, and where it has continued to be used as a photographer’s studio. The buyer must collect the studio from this location, and not the auction house based in Sherborne, Dorset.
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Richard Bromell, part of the team at Charterhouse Auctioneers, has commented that “This is a fantastic opportunity for someone to acquire what we understand to be a unique piece of Victorian photography history which would make a stunning studio or office.”
Check out the video above shared by Charterhouse Auctioneers on Youtube, to see an up-close and inside-look into the victorian era 19th-century horse-drawn mobile photographer's studio on wheels in all of its glory.
A staff writer for Digital Camera World, Beth has an extensive background in various elements of technology with five years of experience working as a tester and sales assistant for CeX. After completing a degree in Music Journalism, followed by obtaining a Master's degree in Photography awarded by the University of Brighton, she spends her time outside of DCW as a freelance photographer specialising in live music events and band press shots under the alias 'bethshootsbands'.
