Mining Cage, Savage Mine, Virginia City, Nevada
Artist
Timothy H. O'Sullivan
(American, born Ireland, 1840 - 1882)
Date1868
MediumAlbumen print
DimensionsOverall: 7 1/8 × 9 inches (18.1 × 22.86 cm)
Mat (exhibition): 20 × 24 inches (50.8 × 60.96 cm)
Framed: 23 3/8 × 27 1/2 × 1 5/8 inches (59.37 × 69.85 × 4.13 cm)
Mat (exhibition): 20 × 24 inches (50.8 × 60.96 cm)
Framed: 23 3/8 × 27 1/2 × 1 5/8 inches (59.37 × 69.85 × 4.13 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Object number2005.27.3296
InscribedNumbered
"88" in white
In Negative
In white
Numbered
"88"
On Mount
in pencil
On View
Not on viewCollections
Terms
Timothy H. O’Sullivan: The King Survey Photographs. The Art Institute of Chicago, October 22, 2011 - January 15, 2012, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, April 7 - September 2, 2012, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo, UT, January 23 - May 26, 2014, no. 27.
At the Savage mine, O'Sullivan photographed one of the cages used to transport workers and cars up and down the central mine shafts. The snow in this view testifies to the harsh winter of 1867-68. O'Sullivan had a companion hold a white card or sheet behind the cage to so that details of the mechanism could be more cleanly recorded. This sheet obscures the man's top half, creating a surreal image of a figure without a torso or head. In addition, this negative is scarred by crop marks intended to eliminate much of the distracting background.
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