167. Alexandrie Datiers. Dét.[ail]

This must surely be one of the more whimsical daguerreotypes in the photographer's oeuvre. It is from a series of up to fifteen small format photographs made in and around Alexandria, including palm trees, mosques (see lot nos. 16 and 73) and vernacular architecture (see lot 26). Another study of palms was sold by Christie's in May 2003 (lot 19) and one is now in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. This daguerreotype is one of the most curious if one is to believe the title. The sense of distance is compressed and the palm, apparently the subject of the image, appears to be bursting directly from the roof of the rather rickety building. The resulting scene is simple, lively and purely photographic.