The Rush Gatherer—Kutenai

About the Item: In excellent condition. Framed in original Edward Curtis Studio frame in the "batwing" style. Two original labels on the verso, describing both the subject and the artist.

The goldtone was a hallmark of the Curtis Seattle Studio. Though he did not invent the goldtone process, Curtis refined it after 1900 to such an extent that he is considered the greatest master of the technique. Curtis goldtones are rare and precious because Curtis only printed about one of every thousand negatives in this expensive and difficult process.

In simple terms, a goldtone is a positive image on glass unlike a photographic print, which is a positive image on paper. The photograph is printed directly on glass, then backed with a gold liquid wash or spray. The gold emulsion is the trickiest part of the process because the poured emulsion is difficult to control. Coatings could be either too dark or too light, irregular, and filled with fingerprints. Only about fifteen percent of the goldtones produced by Curtis are considered flawless.

The Rush Gatherer—Kutenai is one of Curtis’ most beautiful and compelling scenes. The unusually large light-toned areas of the image help create a goldtone of unrivaled brilliance. This photograph was taken on Flathead Lake in Northern Montana and the Indigenous person pictured is from the Kutenai tribe. The Kutenai were semi-nomadic and occupied portions of southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho, and northwestern Montana, moving seasonally to follow food sources. The Kutenai usually crafted their canoes of pine bark, but as illustrated here, occasionally made canoes of fresh elk hides stretched over a framework of fir strips.

Curtis described his goldtones thus: “We all know how beautiful the stones and pebbles in the limpid brook of the forest where the water absorbs the blue of the sky and the green of the foliage. Yet when we take the same iridescent pebbles from the water and dry them they are dull and lifeless. So it is with the orthodox photographic print, but in the orotones all that translucency is retained, and they are as full of life and sparkle as an opal” (Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1919).

Another special aspect of this orotone is its frame. Because of the coated glass plate's fragile surface, every orotone was sold in a handmade frame. Orotone collectors have identified four main frame styles: batwing, pie crust, ranch, and ribbon, each with unique details that help identify them. It is believed that the earliest frames were created by the Schneider Art Galleries in Seattle, but there is no known documentation that confirms this. The fragile paper and labels on the backs of many prints have deteriorated over the years, and only a small number have the original backing intact.