Artwork : ArchiveNo00181

Photographic Wallet C.1885


00181_snakeskin_web.jpg

Artefact

katyoun_wallet.jpg

Contributor

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ContributionForm
Contributor Name Katayoun Dowlatshahi
Contributor Image katayoun.jpg
Profession Artist
Location Southsea
Collection Date 13.12.08 11.22am
Artefact Name Photographic Wallet
Artefact Description Dyed maroon snake-skin wallet. Possibly home-made. Containing photographs, a watercolour of a building and little prints and negatives.
18.5 x 14cm
Evidence of surface rubbing, fair wear and tear. The wallet has an envelope design with two 5mm paper fasteners made of brass.
Artefact Date C.1885
Artefact Stored Grandmother’s chest in sitting room
Artefact Form

Artefact Image katyoun_wallet.jpg
Sample Taken Slice of snake-skin from left fold
Sample Image

History of Artefact It belonged to Edward Hamson who was Katayoun’s maternal great grandfather. He was a trained architect / water engineer and designed the reservoirs above Macclesfield for the silk industry. He was an avid amateur photographer, he taught Katayoun’s grandmother (Joan Gordon nee. Hamson) photographic techniques. The wallet has been passed down to Katayoun. Text inside the wallet reads ‘E.Hamson’ It has been stamped with his brother’s details‘Bob Hamson, Lower Beech, Titherington’.
Historian John Stedman, Rosalinda Hardiman
Previous Owners Edward Hamson, Joan Gordon
Special Memories ‘At the age of seven, I was desperate to look into this box at my grandmother’s house. This was my first ever trip to England from Iran and my first stay at her house in Chichester (Fordwater Road). Everything English seemed new and special to me. I loved everything at her house but particularly this box which was in the bedroom where I slept. I had never seen a beautifully carved wooden chest before. I loved the way the top and the sides opened individually. After asking my grandmother to let me see what was in it, she opened it and presented this wallet as her most treasured possession. She loved her father dearly.’
Artwork Image 00181_snakeskin_web.jpg

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