Lot 4079: Gsell, Emile: Studio portrait of a young Tonkin woman

Gsell, Emile: Studio portrait of a young Tonkin woman Studio portrait of a young Tonkin woman. 1868 - 1873. Albumen print. 28,8 x 22,5 cm. Number 707 in lower right corner in the negative, mounted in archival mat with rounded corners.
The French photographer Emile Gsell worked in Southeast Asia and was the first photographer to be based in Saigon. He participated in at least three scientific expeditions and his images of Angkor Wat are some of the earliest of that site. He also took many portraits of natives and the image offered here is one of his most poetic portraits. The woman wears an Áo dài costume and has a traditional hat at her side, common for north Vietnamese women. - Slightly faded, otherwise in very good condition.