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1929 Boston Italian Fishermen T-Wharf Fleet Nets Boats Glass Plate Negative OOAK
Type: Glass Plate Negative (Original Camera-Exposed Negative)
Subject: Italian-American Fishermen Mending Nets / Boston Waterfront T-Wharf Fleet
Date: 1929
Location: T-Wharf, Boston Harbor / Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts
Photographer: Attributed to Leslie Jones (Boston Herald-Traveler)
Format / Size: Approx. 4" x 5"
Original Envelope Included: Yes (Original newspaper archive production sleeve)
Description
Overview & ProvenanceOffered for sale is a rare, historically rich original camera-exposed 4" x 5" glass plate negative capturing Italian-American fishermen tending nets aboard their fleet at historic T-Wharf in Boston Harbor, photographed in 1929.
Note on Status: This item is a genuine original camera negative—a unique primary-generation photographic artifact shot on site along the Boston waterfront by a veteran press photojournalist. It displays authentic camera-holder rebate edges, remarkable optical sharpness, deep shadows, and natural silver gelatin gradation, free of secondary copy-stand lines or screening dots.
Original Envelope Transcriptions
The negative is preserved in its authentic newspaper filing sleeve:
Image & Historical Context
Throughout the early 20th century, T-Wharf (extending into Boston Harbor off Atlantic Avenue) served as the vibrant home base for Boston's Italian fishing fleet, largely operated by immigrant families from Sicily and southern Italy who settled in the adjacent North End.
This magnificent, high-detail documentary exposure looks down across a dense flotilla of tied-up wooden fishing vessels packed gunwale-to-gunwale into the slip:
The Fishermen: Dozens of crew members wearing newsboy caps, fedoras, suspenders, and work shirts sit on deck boxes and coamings, painstakingly untangling, baiting, and mending massive piles of cork-buoyed fishing nets, coiled groundlines, and tubs of trawl gear.
The Fleet: Multiple commercial fishing craft fill the frame, including one prominently displaying the painted name "ANNA MADRE" on its bow, along with wheelhouses, rigging, dories, and nested casks.
The Waterfront: In the background, the wooden pilings, timber docks, and brick warehouses of historic T-Wharf frame the harbor basin under bright daylight.
(The positive inversion preview scan is shown strictly to demonstrate exposure, clarity, and subject resolution; the physical item offered for sale is the antique glass plate negative and its original archive sleeve).
Physical Condition Assessment
Glass: Complete, solid, and structurally sound. There are no cracks, hairline fractures, or structural repairs across the pane. The glass displays authentic, shallow margin chipping along the extreme outer borders from vintage press plate-holder clips, completely isolated from the image area.
Emulsion Layer: Outstanding tonal range, rich contrast, and pin-sharp resolution rendering net textures, wood grain, clothing fabric, and facial details with superb fidelity. Natural, minor silver mirroring is visible around the extreme peripheral rebate margins, consistent with well-preserved 1920s silver gelatin plates.
Envelope: The printed manila production sleeve is intact and well-preserved, showing typical period handling wear and clear, dark vintage ink script.
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)
