Studios
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Ovinius Davis had studios
in:
- Glasgow (1866 to1908) and
- Edinburgh
(1881 to 1928).
The
firm claimed to have been established in 1850 - but where? And under what
name?
They
produced photos in many sizes including Gem cartes de visite and cabinet
prints.
Here
are Cabinet Prints by Ovinius Davis. The subjects are two of his
apprentices, both of whom went on to run their own photographic
businesses:
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Shop Front Preserved
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Thank you to
Mike Melrose, Greenbank, Edinburgh, who wrote:
Glasgow
Transport Museum
"I
just caught this on the BBC Scottish News on TV at 6.30pm today.
The Glasgow Transport Museum is about to re-open. They have a
Victorian Street as part of one of the exhibits. I noticed that it
includes an Ovinius Davis Shop Front.
The piece said the shops were saved when demolition was taking place, and
moved from their original location to the museum."
Mike
Melrose, Greenbank, Edinburgh: June 1, 2011 |
Shop Front Preserved
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Riverside Museum, Glasgow
Ovinius
Davis Studio
I visited the Glasgow
Transport Museum last week. The Museum is now in a new home beside
the Clyde, near where the River Kelvin joins the Clyde. It is now
known as 'Riverside Museum.
The Museum includes
three streets, each representing a period of history:
- 1895 to 1930
- 1930 to 1960
- 1960 - 1980s
I found the Ovinius
Davis studio in the first of these streets.
The name on the window
read:
OVINIUS DAVIS
PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO |
On one of the walls
inside the studio, there was this notice:
OVINIUS DAVIS
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR SPECIALTIES IN ARTISTIC PORTRAITURE
22
Main Street, Point House, Glasgow
and Regent Street, London
and all principalities and
towns in the kingdom
PORTRAITS
At home, Outdoors, or in
Studio
MINIATURES
Exquisitely coloured for
brooches, lockets, cases, &c.
PHOTOGRAPHY
of every description, reduced
or enlarged, and printed by first class artists
FIRST CLASS CARTES-DE-VISITE
Vignettes:
7s 6d per dozen
Full Length
5s0d per dozen
MINIATURES
Exquisitely coloured for
brooches, lockets, cases, &c.
Prize Medals,
Awards for Merit, Royal Patronage, Worldwide Reputation |
Peter
Stubbs, Edinburgh: July 30, 2012 |
Two
of Ovinius Davis'
Apprentices
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George
Henderson Laing
©
Reproduced by
courtesy of William Laing, Perth
George
Henderson Laing, born
1887 was one of thirteen children - ten boys and three girls. He
was aged about 14 and apprenticed to Ovinius Davis
when the photograph above was taken.
He later worked for Drummond Shields at Lauriston
Place, Edinburgh, and finally owned his own business at Greendykes Road,
Broxburn West Lothian, c.1922 - c.1934.
George Henderson Laing had 4 children:
1. George Henderson Laing, b.1912 or 1913,
married in Ayrshire, 1942 to Janet Livingstone Kerr.
2. Blanche Laing,
b.1914 or 1915. She
worked for photographer George Halliburton Balmain, son of JCH Balmain,
the founder of the business which still traded under his name.
3. William Laing, b.1921, and now
living in Perth, 2006. It is William
who has provided me whit the Laing family details and photographs on
this page. Thank you William!
4. Norman Thomson Laing. He was named Norman after
his father's apprentice photographer Norman Thomson, pictured above.
[William
Laing]
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Thank
you to Karen Kerr-Trudeau, Canada for telling me that:
- George Henderson Laing was born in 1913.
- He married Janet Livingston Kerr, daughter of George Kerr and
Jane Livingstone.
[Karen Kerr-Trudeau, Canada]
Karen has been researching
this branch of the family. (George Kerr's brother was Karen's
grandfather.) If you have any information about the family that you
would like me to pass on to Karen, please e-mail me. Thank you .
- Peter Stubbs March 17, 2007 |
Norman
Thomson
©
Reproduced by
courtesy of William Laing, Perth
Norman Thomson worked for Ovinius Davis at the same time
as George Henderson Laing. He later became one of the Thomson Brothers
who ran a photographic business at 5 West Maitland Street, Edinburgh from
1910.
[William
Laing]
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Advertisement
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In
1904, Ovinius Davis advertised:
“Cabinet
prints 30/- per dozen,
Sansortypes and “Princess portraits” from
6s.6d.”
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'Sansortype' appears at the foot of some of the company's cabinet
prints.
Please
click below to see one of Ovinius Davis' cartes de visite.
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