Charles Spencer (1854-1933) – Part IV – Colour Portraits

Hand-coloured photographic enlargement of a portrait of Rev. A.N. Brown
by the Universal Copying Company of San Francisco (Charles Spencer, New Zealand Agent)
Image by Brett Payne, reproduced courtesy of Elms Collection Ref. 1935.0016

This coloured portrait of Reverend Brown hangs in the dining room at The Elms, Tauranga, on the left-hand wall as you walk in through the door from the hall. Superficially it looks rather like a painting, but on closer examination, the face and hands have a more photographic feel to them. This pose is one of several well-known images of Brown, and is reproduced on Tauranga Library’s Kete page [1].

Reverse of Brown portrait mount
Image by Jo-Anne Knowles, reproduced courtesy of Elms Collection Ref. 1935.0016

A clue to the portrait’s origin is revealed by the above photographs, taken by the late Jo-Anne Knowles when she opened the back of the portrait for conservation in August 2005 [2]. A blue stamp identifies it as having been produced by the Universal Copying Company of San Francisco, California, “Manufacturers of India Ink, Berlin Finish, Crayon, Pastel and Oil Portraits, also Cabinets and Cartes de Visites.”

Detail on reverse of Brown portrait mount
Image by Jo-Anne Knowles, reproduced courtesy of Elms Collection Ref. 1935.0016

Local photographer Charles Spencer had announced in August 1880 that he had been appointed agent for the Universal Copying Co., and was receiving orders. He and his partner Henry Clayton spent that summer soliciting orders for copying, along with their normal photographic work, throughout the Bay of Plenty and Thames region:

Wanted known, that Mr Charles Spencer, of the Thames, has received from F.F. Wells, the Universal Copying Co., San Francisco, Cal., the General Agency for receiving orders for Painting Portraits from all kinds of Family Photos. We guarantee perfect satisfaction. Do not fail to see his samples, for they are of the finest of arts. N.B. – Mr Spencer, or his agent, will visit every town in the North Island. [3]

The residents of Opotiki are informed by advertisement appearing elsewhere, that Mr Charles Spencer or Mr Henry Clayton will visit Opotiki early in the new year with samples of the new American Portrait Pictures. [4]

In early December they received what was probably the first batch of orders back from San Francisco, the steamship usually taking three to four weeks for the journey [5]:

We had occasion a few days ago to notice some specimen pictures of American Art which were shown in our office by Mr Charles Spencer. We paid a visit yesterday to the neat studio, which he has lately erected at the rear of the chemist's shop, where we had the pleasure of inspecting a batch of pictures which had been unpacked for examination before delivery to their respective purchasers. These were not sample pictures but the bona fide merchandise of the House represented by Mr Spencer, and as the completed order will bear a close inspection side by side with the sample picture it is evident that the Universal Copying Company of San Francisco mean doing a trade in New Zealand. We congratulate Mr Spencer on the successful prospects which this agency gives to his ordinary business, as we are quite sure that if the House in 'Frisco continue to turn out work equal to the present sample, a large development awaits their future trade in New Zealand. Our friend Mr Henry Clayton has been appointed general agent for the Colony. [6]

Archdeacon A.N. Brown portrait (detail)
Image by Jo-Anne Knowles, reproduced courtesy of Elms Collection Ref. 1935.0016

This favourable coverage in the Bay of Plenty Times probably resulted in a rush of new orders. By mid-autumn another batch of portraits had arrived and were being displayed to good effect in the window of Spencer’s chemist shop on the Strand. Included in these was the handsome portrait of Archdeacon Brown which appears to have greeted visitors to The Elms ever since:

We have seen a number of pictures by the San Francisco Picture Company, brought here by Mr Henry Clayton. The pictures are mostly those of local persons, some of them being remarkably well executed. Among the more noticeable of them we may mention those of the venerable Archdeacon Brown, and Mr John Conway. They are all taken from photos by Mr Charles Spencer. [7]

Archdeacon A.N. Brown, c. 1879-1880
Cabinet card portrait by Hemus & Hanna, Queen Street, Auckland
Image courtesy of The Elms, Ref. 1972.0308

Actually, the last part of this editorial wasn’t quite accurate. In the case of Brown’s portrait at least, it was copied/enlarged from a cabinet card portrait, shown above, taken at the studio of the Auckland firm, Hemus & Hanna, probably 1879 or 1880 [8] [9] [10].

Spencer continued to advertise this service until July 1882, although no further accounts of them appear in the local newspapers. Between 1879 and at least 1882 the Universal Copying Co. had a network of agents as far afield as Oregon [11], Hawaii [12] and New South Wales [13]. After this date it seems likely that rapid advances in technology allowed individual studios to create their own enlargements more cheaply and quicker with enlarging cameras, employing local artists to add the finishing artistic colourisation by hand.

References

[1] McCauley, Debbie et al (2016) Elms Mission House, Tauranga, on Tauranga Memories Kete, http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/tauranga_historical_society/topics/show/548-elms-mission-house-tauranga
[2] Knowles, Jo-Anne (2005) The Elms Collection Catalogue entry, Ref. 1935.0016, dated 10 Aug 2005, retrieved 18 Oct 2019 by Andrew Gregg
[3] Advertisement, Thames Advertiser, Vol XIII, Issue 3694, 31 Aug 1880, p2 (on https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz)
[4] Bay of Plenty Times, Vol IX, Issue 982, 30 Dec 1880, p2
[5] Whitehouse, Olwyn (1998-2019) Transpacific: San Francisco - New Zealand, on New Zealand Bound, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nzbound/sf.htm
[6] Bay of Plenty Times, Vol IX, Issue 974, 9 Dec 1880, p2
[7] Bay of Plenty Times, Vol X, Issue 1026, 12 Apr 1881, p2
[8] Hemus & Hanna (Auckland) fl 1879-1882 : Cabinet card Portrait of Archdeacon A N Brown. Ref: PA3-0103. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. https://natlib.govt.nz/records/23050598
[9] Hemus & Hannah, on Early New Zealand Photographers and their successors, http://canterburyphotography.blogspot.com/2012/01/hemus-hanna.html
[10] Hemus & Hannah, Auckland Library Photographers Database, http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/photographers/basic_search.htm
[11] Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, Oregon, January 14, 1882, https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn84022657/1882-01-14/ed-1/seq-1/
[12] The Hawaiian Gazette, Honolulu, Hawaii, Vol XV, No. 18, 30 Apr 1879  https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/2269/1879043001.pdf
[13] Portraits of William Neild Philips & Margaret Brunker of Newcastle and Sydney, New South Wales, Web page of Margaret Taylor, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~mtaylor/p21philipsbrunker.htm