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an old photo of a man in uniform with a swordan old postcard with a picture of a man on a horse
Balsan Encheres

769 - TOURS / CHURCH SWISS GUARD – “V.
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Estimate €75
Sale commission
Description
TOURS / CHURCH SWISS GUARD – “V.P. DE BALDIWIA (*) PHOTOGRAPH, circa 1875, full-length close-up of the church Swiss Guard from ? (Tours, but which church?). A very fine close-up photograph of the man posing in full master of ceremonies’ regalia, full dress uniform and tricorn hat, holding his pertuisane, wearing a sword, and clutching his baton of command. Carbon bromide print mounted on orange card with a red border, ‘enamelled’ style visiting card format, the bromide embossed in relief and domed, the reverse of the card recessed. 10.5 x 6.3 cm. Advertisement and photographer’s signature on the reverse: “specialising in enamelled cards – carbon photography / V.P. DE BALDIWIA, 11 Rue du Cimier, off Rue de la Dolve, Place du Palais de Justice, Tours”. ( * )VICTOR POTIER, alias V.P. de BALDIWIA: …Victor’s grandfather, Jacques Potier, an engineer, was the Duke of Orléans’s works inspector on his estates. From 1760 onwards, to distinguish himself from other members of the Potier family, he began calling himself Potier de Baldiwia (the name of a Chilean port). His grandson would sign his photographs V.P. DE BALDIWIA. Victor was born in Nantes on 5 May 1826. Born out of wedlock, he was legitimised when his father, Ferdinand Potier de Baldiwia, married his mother in 1848. In 1854, Victor was an insurance agent in Tours. In 1859, he became a lithographer, then a photographer. Initially a travelling photographer, he settled down and commissioned the construction of a chalet-style photographic studio (1865) – “a glazed American-style kiosk serving as a posing room, 12 metres long by 4 metres wide, with an ornamental garden at the front and a posing area for groups of horsemen and carriages; this establishment was the only one of its kind in Tours” – he worked there until his death on 25 May 1884. His widow, Marie Joséphine Gervais, sold the studio to Louis Janvier and left Tours on 1 April 1886 for Châteaudun, where she opened a photographic studio under the name “Photographie Dunoise”, and then “Baldiwia” from 1892 onwards.
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About the sale SALE OF COINS, BANKNOTES, MEDALS, CIVILIAN AND MILITARY HEADGEAR, INSIGNIA AND DECORATIONS – lots 300 to 598 Followed by OLD PAPERS, PHOTOGRAPHS, POSTCARDS, DOCUMENTS AND MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS – Lots 599 to 862
Auction location
Auction time 10/20/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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