By DAVID MCCORMICK
Antique Week Correspondent

Photogravures are unique collectibles. Had it not been for this unique process of producing a photographic image from an engraving plate, we would have known much less about our early American history.

It was this process developed in the mid-1800s which now opens our eyes to the lives of the American Indian, the first inhabitants of our country.

Although the photogravure process was developed in Europe, two Americans – Edward S. Curtis and Rodman Wanamaker – elevated the technique to a truly American art form.

It was their work that gives us a record, and a reflection of these Native Americans, as they were during the dawn of the 20th century.
Between 1908 and 1913 Rodman Wanamaker promoted three photographic expeditions. The photographer for the expeditions was Joseph K. Dixon. Together they completed these Expeditions to the American Indian. The photographs taken during these missions exceeded 8,000 images of North American Indians. The portraits taken represent more than 150 tribes. What resulted from the many photographs were several high quality photogravures. These large sepia prints chronicle the different cultures of these many tribes. Many well known tribes were represented, the Blackfeet, Cheyennes, Crows and Dakotas, as well as other northern plains tribes. These photogravures are a record as well as a reflection of these Native Americans as they were before the dawn of 20th century. They provide us with a pictorial history of these people, and places in time.

Today, these vintage photogravures are valued collectibles, not only because they are an art form but because they do document several aspects of Indian culture, their style of dress, adornment, as well as their rituals. Although many of the scenes are stylized, they still offer a realistic look at the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi river.

A photogravure is a photographic image produced from an engraving plate. The process was developed in the mid 1800s. In the photogravure process, prints are produced from a photograph. The result is the best of both worlds. The resulting photogravure has the quality of the photograph, and the artistic composition of a lithograph.

The process is somewhat complex. But to simplify, take a photograph. Then produce a printing plate of the image. Next, print the image on paper using rich sepia ink.

Photogravures use a copperplate, and are printed by hand. They display a wide range of amazing tones. These wonderful tones are due to depth of the etch in the copperplate. The shadows are etched many times deeper than the highlights. This happens because the number and depth of ink wells vary on a photogravure plate.

The heyday for the production of photogravures was during the late 1800’s through the 1920’s.

Fortunately for today’s historians, Wanamaker came onto the scene at a most propitious time.

During one of the expeditions, the “Last Great Indian Council” evolved. Several Indian chiefs were gathered from the most important tribes in the valley of the “Little Big Horn.” During this time many of the historical scenes were aptly staged with tepees, war bonnets, weapons, and other artifacts, then photographed. Photos of the Little Big Horn area were taken as well as portraits of the Indian survivors of that epic battle.

The expeditions to the different Indian tribal lands led to the publication of the book entitled The Vanishing Race. The book was authored by the expedition’s photographer, Joseph K. Dixon. This book was an oral account of the Indians who were visually documented in photogravures that resulted from Wanamaker’s expeditions. Today Rodman Wanamaker’s photogravures sell for between $50 and $150.

In a number of his photogravures, Rodman Wanamaker pays tribute to all those who fell at the “Battle of the Little Big Horn.” In others he often captures tranquil scenes of Indian villages. These scenes reflect Wanamaker’s view of the North American Indians’ way of life.

Wanamaker’s views of the Indians’ culture and his opinion that they were wholeheartedly embracing the white man’s ways, along with their feeling of patriotism for the United States, was somewhat distorted. But this does not take away from the historical and cultural import of the photogravures themselves.

Edward Sheriff Curtis born a few years after the Civil War in 1868 became one of America’s foremost photographers. He also chose to document the life and times of the American Indians. His famous work entitled, The North American Indian, was issued in a limited edition from 1907 to 1930. Like Wanamaker, Curtis wanted to portray the image of the American Indians of the west, as they were in the late 1800’s. Through his photogravures he illustrated what he considered to be “the old time Indian.” He, too, captured their way of life, mode of dress, ceremonies, and traditions. In his 2,000 photogravure plates, he described the traditional customs of 80 Indian tribes. Each of his 20 volumes was accompanied by a portfolio of  corresponding photogravures and was organized by tribes that originated in the areas of the Great Plains, Great Basin, Plateau Region, the Southwest, California, and the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska.

Curtis’s collection of photogravures was one of the most significant representations of traditional Indian culture. He had a deep appreciation for the Indian culture and felt it was his time and place to record the life of the North American Indian. The emotional pull he had for the Indian ways presented itself in the intensity of detail in his moving photogravures. Today, photogravures by Curtis start at around $100, while the more popular or rare examples can fetch thousands of dollars.

What drove Curtis was an experience he had earlier in his career. At one point, during his travels he emerged from the mountains and came upon a huge Indian encampment of many tepees. It was a dramatic scene. The sight prompted him to embark on his 30-year trek, to chronicle the Native Americans’ culture and traditions before they were lost for all time.

Curtis’s use of muted sepia tones are wonderful examples of the quality of his work. In his photogravures, Curtis captures the artistic beauty incorporated in the everyday lives of the Indians.
Curtis’s intention was to document a permanent record the Indians’ west of the Mississippi River.

There was some controversy over his techniques. It was suggested that he misrepresented the Indians and their culture. He was accused of portraying them in the popular stereotypes of the times, instead of their actual lives on the reservations. But in spite of this belief, in some cases, his photogravures are the only recorded history of their lives.