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1926 Boston Police Boat Protector Cutting Ice Charles River Glass Negative OOAK
Original, one-of-a-kind (OOAK) camera-original antique 4x5 gelatin silver glass plate negative captured in the winter of 1926: the Boston Police Department harbor patrol boat Protector cutting through heavy surface ice on the frozen Charles River Basin.
Accompanied by its original vintage tan kraft darkroom filing envelope and matching inner protective paper sleeve:
Historical & Visual Content:
During severe New England freezes, the freshwater Charles River Basin locked up with thick pack ice, threatening stone embankments, bridge pilings, and boathouses. The Boston Police Department regularly dispatched its harbor division patrol craft, including the Protector, to break open navigable channels, relieve hydrostatic pressure against the river walls, and keep emergency lanes open.
Captured from a high elevated vantage point looking out across the Esplanade:
The Icebreaking Operation: The tug-style wooden police vessel Protector powers through fractured ice floes, actively clearing a wide lead through the frozen basin.
Riverfront Architecture: In the foreground sits a snow-covered riverfront building featuring a cupola bell-tower, gabled dormers, and surrounding wrought-iron fencing.
Landscape & Setting: Curving park paths lined with bare winter trees cut across snowfields, with pyramidal ice dolphins/channel markers rising directly from the frozen data-path-to-node=\"13\">
Format: Heavy antique silver gelatin 4x5 glass plate negative, exposed directly in a press camera in 1926.
Archive Ephemera Included: Accompanied by the original vintage tan kraft filing sleeve with red pencil notations and the inner protective paper insert.
Please Note: This listing is for the original antique glass plate negative, its period paper archive sleeve, and the inner protective paper slip only. Any positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual representation to show what a finished photograph prints like. No physical paper photograph, modern print, or paper product of any kind is included with this purchase.
Condition:Very Good antique condition. Heavy glass plate is structurally sound with no cracks, fractures, or perimeter breaks. Emulsion across the ship, river ice, snow-covered architecture, and tree branches is intact, sharp, and clean with rich tonal contrast. Displays only minor, authentic edge silvering strictly along the extreme outer borders outside the primary image area. Accompanied by the original period kraft morgue filing envelope.The glass plate negative measures 4 x 5In.
If you collect glass negatives, please check out our collection in our store. We are currently listing thousands of original glass photo negatives from this DJD collection through the remainder of the year. Follow our store, and feel free to reach out about any questions about the negatives in this collection.
Ships with extreme care in archival materials to ensure safe transit. Feel free to reach out with any requests or questions).
Combined shipping is available (with other glass negatives)
