Eight (8) European daguerreotypes, approx. 5 1/4 x 6 in., uniformly mounted in early cream paper passe-partout mats with cut octagonal apertures and double-ruled ink borders. Seven bound in black bookcloth-taped borders and one bound in blue glazed-paper borders. Lyon and Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, France: Philippe Fortuné Durand, ca. 1841-1845.

Provenance: The Maillet Daguerreotype Collection (Christie's, Lot 34, June 2025). 

This lot includes:

1. Waterfront Quayside Facades: A wide-angle landscape capturing a horizontal architectural perspective across the river waters toward multi-story riverfront masonry blocks, quayside embankments, and commercial river traffic in Lyon.

2. Arched Stone River Bridge: A rare infrastructure study documenting an extensive multi-arched masonry bridge spanning the river, with early river craft moored near the abutments and distant embankment quays.

3. Rooftop Topographical View toward Sainte-Foy: A striking study looking over terracotta-tiled provincial pitched roofs toward terraced stone garden walls, villas, and the elevated heights beyond. 

4. Outdoor Self-Portrait of Durand (or Associate) in Courtyard Studio: Exceptional, informal full-length outdoor study of a young man — believed to be Philippe Fortuné Durand himself — seated in a courtyard armchair before an improvised dark cloth backdrop rigged against a masonry outbuilding wall, holding an open notebook or book across his knee.

5. Outdoor Portrait of a Young Boy on a Wicker Chair: Fine full-length study of a well-dressed young boy seated on a woven wicker armchair on a gravel courtyard terrace, posed before an open paneled exterior doorway and porch column, housed in an attractive blue-bordered passe-partout. 

6. Country House and Mature Trees, Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon: Idyllic suburban estate study capturing a classical stone villa framed by windblown poplars and garden shrubbery.

7. Distant River and Quayside View: Wide-angle landscape capturing the sweep of the riverfront with waterfront buildings, promenades, and low-lying hills in the distance. 

8. Elevated Urban Panorama with Church Spire: Atmospheric high-angle view looking down across the dense rooftops, river quays, and central church spires toward the distant hills.

Originally trained as an engraver, Durand (1798-1876) opened his studio in Lyon in 1840, securing his standing among the earliest commercial and artistic photographers in France outside Paris. Durand was intensely drawn to the topographic evolution of Lyon, recording its historic bridges, river banks, and expanding hillside suburbs of Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon during the prime of early French "daguerreotypomania." Outdoor portraits taken in natural light during this experimental early 1840s window are quite scarce in French daguerreian archives, lending unique historical intimacy to this cohesive local grouping.

[Daguerreotype, Philippe Fortune Durand, Durand, Lyon, Sainte-Foy-les-Lyon, Rhone, Saone, Fourviere, French Daguerreotypes, Outdoor Portrait, Self-Portrait, Bridges, River Quays, Architecture, Topographical Photography, Early Photography, 19th Century Photography]

Good to very good condition overall, representative of primitive French outdoor daguerreian practices. Plates exhibit variable degrees of oxidation, peripheral tarnish, solarization along sky elements, and faint scattered surface abrasions consistent with mid-1840s exposure and housing. The uniform passe-partout mats and binding tapes remain structurally intact, showing honest light corner rubbing, mild age-toning, and faint soil.