Sailing Regatta, Sydney Harbour c1888. Orizaba, Phillip-Stephan photo-lithograph

$325.00

CENTENNIAL REGATTA, SYDNEY – early Sydney Harbour Regatta c1888.

Phillip-Stephan Photo-litho & Typographic Process Co. Ltd. Sydney NSW.  On 27th January 1888 the Regatta included 12 sailing races and 12 rowing races. (Flagship, Orient S.S. Orizaba served luncheon on board.) 

Screw Steamer S.S. Orizaba was built by the Barrow Ship Building Company in England for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company and was used for Royal Mail service. With a strong current and thick haze south of Rottnest Island on 15th February, S.S. Orizaba was wrecked on Five Fathom Bank (of sand and limestone), between Point Peron and Garden Island, off Fremantle in Western Australia, on 17th February 1905.

This is a rare view, not only of an early yacht race on Sydney Harbour, but also of the unusual photo-lithographic process developed by Phillip and Stephan. The colour-printed photo-lithographic process, combining photography and lithography, was invented by photographer Samuel Phillip and lithographic-printer Adam Stephan, working together in a cellar in Woolloomooloo, Sydney. Phillip and Stephan produced a series of landscapes, based mainly on photographs by Caire, Lindt, and Bayliss. The company was active from 1884 to 1910.

This antique print is slightly damaged along the base edge of the paper, has a slight tear into the image at the base to the right of the title, and faint water marks in the sky at top left – otherwise it would demand a much higher price. It has been mounted in 'antique white' conservation mattboard. The image within the window measures 310 x 380mm (approx. 12.25 x 15 inches). External measurement of the mount for framing measures 470 x 540mm (18.5 x 21.25 inches).