Stereo Card Recolor--Rock of Ages Statue (c1870)

 

Here's another recolored stereoview. I don't have a physical copy of this one in my own collection, but I found a good scan of it on the Getty Museum website. The name associated with it on the museum website is the photographer James Cremer. It was originally in creamy black and white, like most of these old cards, but I thought it would be fun to add a touch of color. Anyway, this card has a similar theme to some I've blogged about previously, here and here, Faith personified and clinging to the cross. But instead of a painting or a girl in a costume, this is a stereo photo of a small statue. There seem to be a lot of statue stereoviews floating around eBay, and I've seen a few similar to this, but none at a price I wanted to pay. When recoloring I chose to remove the yellow shade from the statue itself and make the velvet background a deep red. I'm fascinated by how many different versions I've found of the same theme--there are a few more I haven't blogged about yet but might in the future.

Stereo Card Recolor--Simply to Thy Cross I Cling (1900)

 

I found this lovely stereograph card on eBay a while ago, and I colored it in Photoshop but didn't post it right away because it was so tricky to sort out the boundary between the painted backdrop and the girl's hair. Finally I decided to check it over it one more time and then go ahead and share, so here it is. I really like this card and have not seen it anywhere else.

This stereograph has a strong resemblance to one I blogged about earlier, here, ultimately based on a painting by Johannes Adam Simon Oertel. It seems to have been a popular design to copy; several other companies put their own spin on it. I've collected a few of them and find it fascinating just how much variety there is even when they're clearly copying each other. This particular version was published in 1900 by Griffith & Griffith. Since it's a photo and not a painting, the 3D effect is much more convincing than in the 1896 card. The cross is not made of rock--it appears to be cloth-draped wood--but the title is still a line from the song "Rock of Ages." The girl is younger than in many other portrayals; since she's understood to be a personification of Christian faith, I suppose that makes this one childlike Faith.

Stereo Card Recolor--Rock of Ages: The Rescue (1896)

 

Here's the other 1896 stereo card I bought on eBay along with The Resurrection. It's titled "Rock of Ages--The Rescue," and I love its dramatic allegory. It was originally in sepia, of course, but I thought the ocean scene would be beautiful in color. Trying to match both sides of the water splashes was really tricky, but eventually I got them close enough for 3D viewing. I also added some blank space to the edges to help my Google Cardboard viewer focus on it correctly.

I think this card was intended to be part of a set with two other cards called "Rock of Ages--The Wreck" and "Rock of Ages--The Ascension," but it's hard to find specific information. There are at least two versions of each card; I like this 1896 one better than the 1875 version I found a scan of here. Actually, when I tried to look these up I found a dizzying variety of related artwork--everything from paintings to tattoos to a music album cover, dated any time between the late 1860s and, well, right now. There is an interesting explanation of the original painting's history here, on what appears to be a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan site.