Lot Essay
Adams and Company of London were makers of quality cameras and would produce designs, or adapt their own products, to a customer's specification. It would seem natural that the Sultan of Morocco would have approached the company to produce this unique camera.
Sultan Abdul Aziz, ruler of Morocco from 1894-1912, was an exuberant figure and renowned for his fascination with the latest technology ranging from cameras, lawnmowers and cigarette lighters to musical boxes. This enthusiasm for anything western, under the influence of Colonel Maclean the instructor of the Sultan's Royal Bodyguard, was typical of many non-European rulers of the day. It, ultimately, led to unpopularity at his court and he was overthrown by his brother Abdel Hafid in 1912.
The photographic journals of the time carried extensive reports of the camera which, according to Amateur Photographer 'has long been rumoured...in [the] process of construction for the Sultan of Morocco'. Adams placed the camera on public display and called a press conference to promote their workmanship before it was passed over to its new owner.
The Sultan ordered two cameras in two plate sizes. A silver-finished half-plate camera was made at a cost of (900) and a gold-finished quarter-plate camera (the camera being offered here) was complete at a cost of (2100). The whereabouts of the silver camera is unknown.
According to contemporary reports the two cameras 'monopolised the time of ten men for four months'. Adams took an existing model from their range of hand cameras and replaced the metal parts with 18ct. gold parts and re-covered the camera in best quality leather. All the fittings even down to the screws and plate sheaths are hallmarked. The supplier of the gold parts which were specially commissioned by Adams came from a London-based smallworker William Frederick Wright. The viewfinder and lens covers, hinges, area around the front shutter controls and other areas were further finished with an ornate chased finish to the gold plates.
When it was made the quarter-plate gold camera contained 130 ounces 'of the purest gold' (in fact 18ct. gold) and weighed thirteen pounds instead of the normal five pounds for the regular version of the camera.
Comment in the press was mixed. The Amateur Photographer was dismissive of the extravagence but could not hide it's praise for the skill in its construction:
'there is...satisfaction in seeing these two cameras, two of the most exquisite specimens of consummate craftsmanship which it is easy to imagine, and, whether in the palace of Marrakesh or anywhere else, they are satisfactory testimonies to the thoroughness and sterling worth of British workmanship'.
The British Journal of Photography similarly praised the cameras:
'...it should be a double satisfaction to the Sultan of Morocco to feel that he is not only using the most expensively produced cameras in the world, but also those which, in point of practical value and amenability to the needs of the 'serious' users of the hand-camera, are not excelled by any similar instruments that are in existence. We congratulate Messrs Adams on their share in establishing a 'record' which is hardly likely to be challenged, or, if challenged, to be taken'.
Sultan Abdul Aziz, ruler of Morocco from 1894-1912, was an exuberant figure and renowned for his fascination with the latest technology ranging from cameras, lawnmowers and cigarette lighters to musical boxes. This enthusiasm for anything western, under the influence of Colonel Maclean the instructor of the Sultan's Royal Bodyguard, was typical of many non-European rulers of the day. It, ultimately, led to unpopularity at his court and he was overthrown by his brother Abdel Hafid in 1912.
The photographic journals of the time carried extensive reports of the camera which, according to Amateur Photographer 'has long been rumoured...in [the] process of construction for the Sultan of Morocco'. Adams placed the camera on public display and called a press conference to promote their workmanship before it was passed over to its new owner.
The Sultan ordered two cameras in two plate sizes. A silver-finished half-plate camera was made at a cost of (900) and a gold-finished quarter-plate camera (the camera being offered here) was complete at a cost of (2100). The whereabouts of the silver camera is unknown.
According to contemporary reports the two cameras 'monopolised the time of ten men for four months'. Adams took an existing model from their range of hand cameras and replaced the metal parts with 18ct. gold parts and re-covered the camera in best quality leather. All the fittings even down to the screws and plate sheaths are hallmarked. The supplier of the gold parts which were specially commissioned by Adams came from a London-based smallworker William Frederick Wright. The viewfinder and lens covers, hinges, area around the front shutter controls and other areas were further finished with an ornate chased finish to the gold plates.
When it was made the quarter-plate gold camera contained 130 ounces 'of the purest gold' (in fact 18ct. gold) and weighed thirteen pounds instead of the normal five pounds for the regular version of the camera.
Comment in the press was mixed. The Amateur Photographer was dismissive of the extravagence but could not hide it's praise for the skill in its construction:
'there is...satisfaction in seeing these two cameras, two of the most exquisite specimens of consummate craftsmanship which it is easy to imagine, and, whether in the palace of Marrakesh or anywhere else, they are satisfactory testimonies to the thoroughness and sterling worth of British workmanship'.
The British Journal of Photography similarly praised the cameras:
'...it should be a double satisfaction to the Sultan of Morocco to feel that he is not only using the most expensively produced cameras in the world, but also those which, in point of practical value and amenability to the needs of the 'serious' users of the hand-camera, are not excelled by any similar instruments that are in existence. We congratulate Messrs Adams on their share in establishing a 'record' which is hardly likely to be challenged, or, if challenged, to be taken'.