1920s Boston Harbor Iced-In Fishing Schooner & Steam Tug Glass Negative OOAK For Sale

1920s Boston Harbor Iced-In Fishing Schooner & Steam Tug Glass Negative OOAK

Original, one-of-a-kind (OOAK) camera-original antique 4x5 gelatin silver glass plate negative captured circa 1920s: a breathtaking North Atlantic winter documentary photograph: a Gloucester/Boston wooden fishing schooner navigating through frozen sea ice and floating pack floes, escorted by a working harbor steam tug clearing a channel as flocks of sea gulls circle overhead.

Accompanied by its original period tan kraft darkroom morgue filing sleeve:

• The Sleeve Inscription:

  ICE fishing Boat / Boat

Historical & Photographic Content:

During severe New England winters, Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay frequently froze over, trapping working dory fishing schooners and coastal freighters in thick pack ice. Fleets relied on rugged harbor steam tugs to break open navigation lanes through the frozen floes, guiding salt-bankers and groundfishermen safely to the Boston Fish Pier berths.

Captured offshore with superb tonal gradation and atmospheric depth by Boston Herald-Traveler staff photojournalist Leslie Jones:

• The Schooner & Tug in Ice: The tall, two-masted wooden fishing schooner sits low in the channel, her rigging, gaffs, and spars standing bare against the cold winter sky. Immediately off her port quarter, a heavy wooden steam tug churns forward, venting a billowing plume of black coal smoke and white exhaust steam as she breaks through slush and sheet ice.

• The Frozen Harbor Expanse: The foreground captures broken pans of salt-water ice, pancake floes, and water channels mirroring the gray winter sky. Dozens of harbor gulls wheel in flight and rest across the ice cakes around the ship\'s stern.

• Harbor Infrastructure: In the background, long timber pile wharves, pier sheds, and the distant silhouettes of anchored four-masted cargo schooners stretch along the data-path-to-node=\"16\">

• Format: Heavy antique silver gelatin 4x5 glass plate negative, exposed directly in a press camera, circa 1920s.

• Archive Ephemera Included: Accompanied by the original vintage tan kraft newspaper darkroom morgue filing envelope.

Please Note: This listing is for the original antique glass plate negative and its period paper archive sleeve only. Any positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual representation to show what finished photographs print like. No physical paper photograph, modern print, or paper product of any kind is included with this purchase.

Condition:

Very Good to Excellent antique condition. Heavy glass plate is structurally sound with no cracks, fractures, or perimeter breaks. The silver gelatin emulsion is remarkably clean, sharp, and stable throughout, capturing pinpoint clarity across the rigging lines, coal smoke plume, individual flying gulls, and textured ice floes. Displays only minor authentic edge silvering and faint handling wear strictly along the extreme outer borders outside the primary image area. Accompanied by the original period kraft morgue filing sleeve.

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)