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two black and white photographs of men in a rooman old book sitting on top of a table next to a windowblack and white photograph of a factory with machines and machineryblack and white photograph of a factory with workers working on machinesblack and white photograph of a factory with women working on machinestwo black and white photos of a bar in a buildingtwo black and white photographs of a library with books on the shelvestwo black and white photographs of people in a buildingtwo black and white photographs of people in a buildingan old book with a red cover sitting on a table
Premium DE BAECQUE et Associés - Lyon

128 - An exceptional and probably unique photographic album of the…
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Estimate €1,500 - €2,000
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Description
An exceptional and probably unique photographic album of the Lyon Silk Exchange, documenting its successive transformations from 1884 to 1910/1934. The collection comprises fifty-six pages containing forty-five (45) prints, including 43 silver prints, two other prints and one loose plate. Contrary to the title inscribed on the front cover, the transformations did not end in 1910 but continued until 1934 with the addition of further photographs over time, a testament to the importance of this work. This extraordinary document reveals the origins and history of this institution and how it operated in the early years of the 20th century through documentary images of rare quality, all perfectly captioned. We thus find several photographs showing the desiccators in use, adorned with enamelled plaques similar to those featured in the previous lot. Each page is clearly captioned: Pasteur Monument, 9 March 1924; Main entrance to the ‘Condition’, 1809; Works carried out on 11 April 1884; Regulations and decrees of the ‘Condition’; Conditioning apparatus and their successive modifications; Processes and apparatus used in Lyon for the processing of silk, and their successive modifications from 1805 to 1900; Plan of the building constructed in 1809 and its latest alterations in 1884; Building constructed by the Chamber of Commerce for the conditioning of silk, its successive alterations from 1809 to 1900; Plan of the building constructed in 1809 and its successive alterations up to 1910; printed portraits of: Jean-Louis Rast-Maupas (1734–1821), founder of the first Lyon Silk Exchange in 1779, and Léon Talabot (1792–1863), engineer and inventor of the Talabot method; portraits of: Antoine Revérony, director of the Lyon Public Silk Exchange from 17 Prairial, Year XIII to 17 July 1824; Ennemond Félissent, director of the Lyon Public Silk Exchange from 5 October 1824 to 30 June 1841; Médéric Gamot, director of the Condition publique des soies from 1 July 1841 to 1 December 1862, and Adrien Perret, director of the Condition publique des soies from 1 January 1863 to 14 December 1883; the obverse and reverse of a Condition medal, inscribed ‘M. Henri Chamonard’, member of the Lyon Chamber of Commerce, managing director of the Condition 1907–1921, the obverse and reverse of a Condition medal, inscribed ‘Mr François Ferier, member of the Lyon Chamber of Commerce, managing director of the Condition 1924–1930’; First-floor hall – 1889, Goods Registration; First-floor hall – 1889, Staff Offices; First-floor hall – 1889, Staff Offices; Electrical packaging equipment – 1899; First-floor hall – 1907, Goods registration; Sample collection room – 1907; New Packaging Equipment Room with forced ventilation – 10 June 1907; Packaging Equipment Room with new forced ventilation system – 10 June 1907; Printing Workshop – 1907; Grading, Staff Office – 1907; Silk Research Laboratory, Joseph Gillet Room 1925 – 1931 Colonial Exhibition; Silk Research Laboratory, Silk Museum – 1906; Silk Research Laboratory, Oberthür Room 1925 – Paris Colonial Exhibition 1931; Silk Research Laboratory, Silk Museum – 1906; Silk Research Laboratory, Modern Spinning Basin – 1927, hand-dated 1931 in the bottom right-hand margin; Silk Research Laboratory, Spinning Basin, industrial spinning – 1906; Silk Research Laboratory, Duseigneur-Kléber Room – 1910; Former Chemistry Laboratory in 1885 on the ground floor (Passage des Voitures), painting by Mr Benoit; Chemistry Laboratory – 1895, established in 1886 on the second floor, annotated ‘Mr Benoit, chemist’; Chemistry Laboratory – 1905; Chemistry Laboratory 1927, annex on the third floor, with the date of the photograph (1931) handwritten on it; Chemistry Laboratory – 1910; De-sizing, De-sizing basin – 1910; Staff meeting on 3 February 1934, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Mr J. Testenoire’s tenure as Director, from 1 February 1884 to 1 February 1934 (2 prints) and a double-sided loose sheet featuring, on the front, captioned portraits of the six inspectors of the Public Silk Trade Commission, and on the reverse, the Commission’s managing directors, dated Thursday 23 February 1922 Prints of various sizes, mostly large. H. 28 cm – W. approx. 23 cm Album: H. 32 cm – W. 47 cm Red and black percaline binding, marked corners, title gilded with a plate, endpapers in calico printed with gold and silver floral motifs. The album is mounted on fabric tabs. Spine reinforced, wear to the front cover Expert: Damien Voutay
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About the sale TEXTILES #18
Auction location
Auction time 09/21/2026 at 2:30 PM
Lot description modified on 09/02/2026 at 2:38 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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