Hugh Owen (British, 1808-1897) Chain Armor and Swords, India, Exhibited at Great Exhibition, London, 1851 Salt print from paper negative 8-7/8 x 6-1/4 inches (22.5 x 15.9 cm) 13-3/4 x 9-3/4 inches (mount) Initialed in the negative. Printed title on original mount. A print from the exceedingly rare "Reports by the Jury, The Great Exhibition of Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851, Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue, by Authority of the Royal Commission. This print was from a paper negative by Hugh Owen but was actually printed by Nikolaas Henneman on Talbot's Silver Chloride (salted) Paper. Talbot got 15 copies for waiving his patent rights for the publication and 130 copies went to dignitaries and institutions. Few copies exist in private hands and individual prints are exceedingly rare. Born in 1808, Hugh Owen was one of the first generation of amateur photographers turned professional, working in the 1840s and 1850s, in Bristol and London. He is best known for his calotypes of the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. He exhibited work at the Society of Arts in 1852, and a review in The London Times listed him among the best photographers of the day. He was one of the early members of the Calotype Society founded in London in 1847. He might have exchanged work with the Scotsman, John Muir Wood. He died in 1897. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved