EXTREMELY RARE MICHAEL MILEY (LEXINGTON, VA, 1841-1918), ROCKBRIDGE CO., SHENANDOAH VALLEY OF VIRGINIA COLOR PHOTOGRAPH OF COLONEL DANIEL PARKE, carbon color print on board, being a reproduction of the c.1705 John Closterman (wrongly attributed to Godfrey Kneller at the time of Miley's photograph) portrait of Colonel Daniel Parke. Framed under the original wavy glass in its original gilt-wood frame, the back of which bears an original printed label reading "COLONEL DANIEL PARKE / 'Aid-de-camp to his grace the Duke of Marlborough, during that famous / campaign in Germany, 1704, and had the honour to be sent by the Duke with the / news of the glorious Battle of Blenheim, for which the queen gave him her Pic- / ture and a thousand Pounds, and at the Duke's request made him Governor-in- / Chief, and Captain-General of the Leeward Islands. (From the back of the pic- / ture). / Blenheim, a village in Bavaria, on the Danube. Battle of Blenheim, August, / 1704. The allied English, German, Dutch and Dames, 52,000 under the Duke of / Marlborough and Prince Eugene, defeated the French and Bavarians (55,000-60,000) / under Tallard. Loss of Allies 11,000 to 12,000; that of the French and Bavarians 40,000. / Artist Godfrey Kneller, 1707. Size 41 x 50. / Photographed in color by M. Miley & Son, Lexington, Va." Circa 1905. 13 3/4" x 10 1/2" sight, 21 3/4" x 18 1/2" OA.
Catalogue Note: This historic photograph is among the first successful color prints produced in the United States. Michael Miley is most noted for his post-war portraits of General Robert E. Lee and became known as "General Lee's photographer". Miley and his son Henry developed the first commercially viable process of producing multiple color prints on paper by superimposing separate single-color carbon images in each primary color. They patented the technique in 1902, and in 1905 were awarded a Medal of Merit by the Franklin Institute. The Mileys produced about five hundred color prints, mostly of still lifes and copies of paintings. They photographed all of the Washington and Lee University Custis Lee Collection paintings. Most of Miley's color images are in institutional collections. While the photographs of Charles Wilson Peale's portrait of George Washington is quite rare, the photograph of John Closterman's portrait of Colonel Daniel Parke is incredibly rare. Two examples were located in institutional collections, but this is the only example we have found which has ever come to the market.

Very good condition with the photograph retaining its bright clear colors, other examples of Miley's photographs of portraits are darker and muddier than the present example, which is quite crisp; several very minor spots of loss to the surface on the proper left side of the photograph with minor scattered small edge chips/flakes; the frame retains its original surface and has losses primarily in the corners with the structure of the frame rather weak and needing to be rejoined at the seams, its surface with expected minor scattered discoloration.

Discovered in a Prince Edward Co., Virginia estate.