General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

5

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

.1-.2 PAPER (?) IMPREGNATED WITH INK; ROLLED ON CARDBOARD FORM..3 GRANITE BLOCK..4-.5 CARDBOARD BOX.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

12.8 cm

Width

8.4 cm

Height

4.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Photography

Category

Miscellaneous

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Hastings

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

OWNED BY YOUSUF KARSH BEFORE 1992. POSSIBLY NEVER USED.

Canada

PART OF A LARGE COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC EQ. USED BY YOUSUF KARSH, CANADA'S INTERNATIONALLY HONOURED PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER. FROM 1932 TO 1992, MR. KARSH OPERATED FROM HIS PRINCIPLE STUDIO IN OTTAWA, PHOTOGRAPHING HEADS OF STATE, RELIGIOUS LEADERS, AND THOSE PROMINANT IN BUSINESS, THE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT. HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS & NEGATIVES, AND PERSONAL PAPERS ARE IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF CANADA.

Function

USED TO TRANSFER GOLD OR SILVER COLOUR INK TO ANOTHER MEDIUM (USUALLY PAPER), BY MEANS OF DIRECT PRESSURE. GRANITE BLOCK PROVIDED SMOOTH SURFACE ON WHICH PRESSURE COULD BE EXERTED, AND NO MARK (IE. SCRATCH OR INDENTATION) MADE.

Technical

ACCORDING TO JERRY FIELDER, FORMER ASSISTANT TO YOUSUF KARSH, THESE ROLLS OF TRANSFER PAPER WHERE GIVEN TO MR. KARSH FOR USE WHEN SIGNING PHOTOGRAPHS. KARSH CONSIDERED THEM TO BE OF POOR QUALITY: MR. FIELDER DOESN'T REMEMBER EVER SEEING THEM USED. KARSH USED WHITE INK TO SIGN SOME OF HIS EARLY GLOSSY PRINTS, WRITING DIRECTLY ON THE PRINT FACE. HE LATER USED INDIA INK TO SIGN THE MAT OF A FINISHED PHOTO. (REF. 1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

.1 "HASTINGS" printed in inside surface of roll form..3 "RED-DIAMOND" handwritten in black ink on unpolished side of block. "EASTERN GRANITE CO./ [illegible], Que" stamped in black ink, below..4 "30", "Gold and Silver/ Ribon/ for Writing", and "Gold" handwritten on box top. "FIRST CLASS" and "AIR MAIL" stamped in ink on box top.

Missing

NONE.

Finish

.1 GOLD INK TRANSFER PAPER ON PAPER ROLL FORM..2 SILVER INK TRANSFER PAPER ON UNBLEACHED PAPER ROLL FORM..3 PINK, GREY & BLACK GRANITE BLOCK..4-.5 BUFF-COLOUR PAPER COVERS BOX TOP AND BOTTOM EXTERIOR; BLACK PAPER ON INTERIOR.

Decoration

N/A