Models of Saami men

Studio photograph of painted models (sculpted by Carl August Söderman) of two Saami men, one of whom is standing on skis, the other of whom sits in a sled being pulled by a reindeer, described on the printed caption as being from Lapland.

Photographer: Wilhelm Abraham Eurenius and Peter Ludvig Quist studio (Stockholm, Sweden), labelled ‘W. A Eurenius & P. L Quist’
Date of photograph: Circa 1867
Continent: Europe
Geographical area: Northern Europe
Country: Sweden
Region/Place: Stockholm
Cultural group: European Saami
Format: Carte de visite, hand-coloured
Size: 64 x 103 mm
Acquisition: Joan Evans. Donated August 1941

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Primary documentation: ‘[p.588] Dr. JOAN EVANS, from the property of the late SIR ARTHUR EVANS, Youlbury, Boars Hill, Oxford. [List of items follows]’; ‘[p.590] 38 photographs, many coloured, of Lapp types, in box’: Pitt Rivers Museum accession records (Donations X, 1937–1941), pp.588, 590. Notes on mount: ‘C. A. Söderman, Skulpt./ LAPPLAND’ (printed on mount card); ‘Luleå’ (written in pencil on mount card); ‘W. A Eurenius & P. L Quist/ HOF-PHOTOGRAFER/ STOCKHOLM/ Regeringsgatan No. 18/ Originalpläten bevaras för vidare beställning’ (printed on reverse of mount card).

Research notes: This carte de visite has been identified as a photograph by Wilhelm August Eurenius and Peter Ludvig Quist, taken from the printed information on the reverse. Eurenius’ and Quist’s studio is described as being located at ‘Regeringsgatan No. 18’ in Stockholm. Carl August Söderman (1835–1907) was a Swedish sculptor. He exhibited wax mannequins, which had been modelled from life and were noted for their realism, at the International Exhibition in Paris in 1867. These mannequins provided the basis for models subsequently created by Arthur Hazelius for the ethnographical museum which opened in 1873 in Drottninggatan, Stockholm: Lou Taylor, The Study of Dress History (Manchester, 2002), p.41.