14

An early two-part panorama of the San Francisco Waterfront, with thousands of ships in the harbor, most deserted. 1850-51; copied by Martin Behrman from a daguerreotype sometimes called "Forest of Masts" circa 1910.

Silver prints (2)
With Behrman's credit, copyright, and date, and numbers apparently referencing a key to landmarks and buildings, in the negative.
The images 6 1/8 x 7 5/8 in. (15.6 x 19.4 cm.)

  • Provenance:
    A Country Called California: The Collection of Stephen White
  • Literature:
    Stephen White, foreword by Lynell George, A Country Called California, Photographs 1850s to 1960s (Angel City Press, 2022), p. 59
  • Notes:
    The original right half of this daguerreotype panorama is part of the Zelda McKay Collection of The Bancroft Library where it is titled "San Francisco, east from Kearny and Clay Streets, with masts of sailing ships in the harbor." The collection also includes the 1910 copy by Behrman, part of the Roy D. Graves Collection. The original left half of this daguerreotype is unknown and believed lost.

    Sailing ships brought thousands of people to the city during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Many of these ships were deserted by their crew, who had left in search of fortune. The shores of San Francisco were littered with abandoned sailing vessels, and by 1851 over 800 ships filled Yerba Buena Cove. The vast number of empty ships was described as a "forest of masts" crowding what had once been a quiet, muddy shore.

    This extraordinary panorama of San Francisco at the height of the Gold Rush offers one of the earliest surviving photographic depictions of San Francisco. The silver prints offered here were made by Martin Behrman around 1910. Following the devastation of the 1906 earthquake, Behrman sought to preserve the early photographic documentation of the city, so he began to copy original photographs. This was apparently the earliest photograph he found of the city, and was made from what was then the Jenny Lind Theatre. Behrman's key identifies other buildings and addresses in the image.
  • Condition:
    Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

    Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.

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February 12, 2026 12:00 PM EST
New York, NY, US

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