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Sports, Boating, Sculling, Emmanuel Boat Club, Cambridge University, Antique Photographs

$400

Stearn & Sons (photographers)
Emmanuel Boat Club Rowers – May 1911
Emmanuel Boat Club Rowers – July 1911

Stearn & Sons, Cambridge, England: 1909-12
Pair of photos mounted on board, with calligraphy, as issued
8.5 x 10.75 inches, each photograph
16.5 x 28.5, each mounted overall
18 x 30.5 inches, frame on two
19 x 31.5 inches, frame on two
20.25 x 22.5 inches, frame on one
$400  — Just one remains available

Annual photographs of members of the Emmanuel Boat Club of Cambridge University in the U.K. from 1910 to 1912, including the rowers, the coxswain, and the coach, four of which commemorate the annual May boat races in Cambridge, one of which commemorates the July 1911 Henley Royal Regatta Thames Challenge Cup. The latter shows a team picture on the left and a meet on the right, with several boats assembled and is inscribed “Emmanuel Henley Party” at the top and “Beat Selwyn Coll: Brasenose, Oxf.” (an Oxford University rowing club) in the middle. The others are in a similar format, with a photograph of the rowing team on the left and a picture of them in their scull on the river on the right, the Emmanuel coat of arms embellished with calligraphy at the top, and the names of the team members and coaches written in ink at the bottom. The EBC, one of the traditional Cambridge college boat clubs, was established well over a century ago and still competes.

Product Description Continues Below

Description

Stearn & Sons photography studio was founded by Cambridge, England, photographer Thomas Steran (b.c. 1824), and took numerous Cambridge University team and group pictures during the first quarter of the 19th century. His wife, Eliza, was also listed in the 1881 Cambridge census as a “photographist.” Thomas Stearn pioneered the use of modern photographic techniques, and as early as the 1890s photographed the boat races from the banks of the river Cam. Stearn & Sons was still in business at its original Cambridge address in 1957. In 1995, Stearn’s photographic studio at Grassy Corner, a popular viewing point for boat races on the Cam, was rebuilt and restored to its 1892 state.

Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning and wear. Photographs still clear and attractive. Backing boards with some light spotting and foxing. One corner of one backboard with crack, now restored. Frames with usual wear, three have been revarnished.

References:

Ambrose, Don. “Brief Profile of G.B. Studd.” Cricket Archive. 2003-2004. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Articles/1/1309.html (17 November 2004).

“EBC Officers.” Emmanuel Boat Club. 2004. http://www.srcf.ucam.org/ebc/about/ (17 November 2004).

“Fen Ditton.” British History Online. 2003-2004. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=18814 (17 November 2004).

Payne, Brett. “Derbyshire Photographers’ Profiles.” 2002-2004. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~brett/photos/rstearn.html (17 November 2004).