Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919)

Arabische Korallen (Arabian Coral)

watercolor on thin paper

18 x 27 cm (sheet 28 x 35 cm)

circa 1876

This watercolor is one of the first scientifically accurate depictions of a coral reef.  It is a study for an illustration in Haeckel's monograph Arabische Korallen (Berlin 1876), Plate III, a lithograph by Adolf Giltsch.  It appears that Haeckel's watercolor was itself based upon the pioneering undersea drawings of Eugen von Ransonnet-Villez in the 1860s.  See Stefanie Jovanovic-Kruspel, Valérie Pisani & Andreas Hantschk, “Under water” – Between Science and Art – The rediscovery  of the first authentic underwatersketches by  Eugen von Ransonnet-villez (1838–1926), 119 Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, Serie A, 131-153 (2017).

unidentified photographer

Portrait of Ernst Haeckel (in quarter profile facing right against dark background)

before 1910

original vintage gelatin silver print

33 x 27 cm

matted and framed

signed and inscribed by Haeckel below on the mat in ink: "Ernst Haeckel. Jena."

old label attached to  frame verso: "Heinrich Hahn, Frankfurt am Main...," apparently the framer

The Daulton Collection 

a rare photograph

In 1910, the Photographische Gesellschaft, Berlin [Berlin Photograph Company], published the above photograph as a photogravure in a collection of portraits of scientists.

Nicola Perscheid (Moselweiss near Koblenz 1864–1930 Berlin)

Portrait of Professor Ernst Haeckel (three-quarter length, holding a human skull in his left hand and with the skeleton of a gibbon in the background)

1904 (original photograph); 1906 (photogravure published)

hand-pulled photogravure after a photograph by Nicola Perscheid

image 22 x 16,5 cm (sheet 29,6 x 23,2 cm)

The Daulton Collection 

in the plate, printed text stating name of photographer, date of photograph, number of photograph, name of subject, and name of publisher: "N. Perscheid phot. 1904," "4669," "Haeckel," and "Photographische Gesellschaft in Berlin" [Photographic Society in Berlin, also known as the Berlin Photographic Company].

condition: some foxing in the margin

The Pictorialists and portraitists around the turn of the century often used hand-pulled photogravures because of their fine rendition. The Photographische Gesellschaft in Berlin specialized in hand-pulled photogravures.