Lot 3018
A collection of vintage photographs from the family of silent actresses Diana Kane, Lois Wilson, and Constance Wilson
5 May 2014, 10:00 PDT
Los AngelesSold for US$525 inc. premium
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A collection of vintage photographs from the family of silent actresses Diana Kane, Lois Wilson, and Constance Wilson
155 photographs in all, black and white (one is tinted), almost entirely from the silent era, mostly oversize glamour portraits of sisters Kane, Wilson, and Wilson, and Kane's husband, director George Fitzmaurice, and a few scenes of the actresses in silent films. The portraits have various photographers' stamps, including several by Eugene Robert Richee, and Edwin Bower Hesser, which are signed by Hesser in ink.
Highlights include four posed portrait shots from one of William Randolph Hearst's epic costume parties, prominently featuring Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst, Fitzmaurice, John Considine, and Irving Thalberg and other guests all in elaborate Civil War uniforms; Davies is dressed as a Southern belle. (Several of the guests' names are labeled on the verso.) The photographer's stamp on the verso reads "KINDLY CREDIT / MANATT / M. G. M." Other outstanding photographs document the November, 1931 wedding of Constance Bennett and Henri, Marquis de la Falaise de Coudray, which was held at Fitzmaurice's home. The image features Bennett, Marion Davies, Joan Bennett, and Fitzmaurice, among others.
Other images in the lot include an oversize photograph from the wedding of Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, featuring maid of honor Louella Parsons and bridesmaids Diana Fitzmaurice, Constance Talmadge, and Adela Rogers St. John, and an elegant portrait of the sisters posing with a very dapper Ronald Colman (star of Fitzmaurice's The Night of Love). Daniels and Lois Wilson had co-starred in Monsieur Beaucaire (1924) opposite Rudolph Valentino. Also included is a signed photo of Lois Wilson, inscribed "To my very own sister / Love, / Lois" and a signed photograph of opera star Ernestine Schumman-Heink with an accompanying signed letter.
Fitzmaurice's directorial credits include Rudolph Valentino's final film, The Son of the Sheik, Mata Hari starring Greta Garbo, and Suzy. Kane appeared in only a handful of films, and Constance Wilson/Connie Lewis appeared in even fewer, but their sister Lois appeared in dozens of silents.
Most photographs: 8 1/2 x 11 in. to 11 x 14 in.
Highlights include four posed portrait shots from one of William Randolph Hearst's epic costume parties, prominently featuring Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst, Fitzmaurice, John Considine, and Irving Thalberg and other guests all in elaborate Civil War uniforms; Davies is dressed as a Southern belle. (Several of the guests' names are labeled on the verso.) The photographer's stamp on the verso reads "KINDLY CREDIT / MANATT / M. G. M." Other outstanding photographs document the November, 1931 wedding of Constance Bennett and Henri, Marquis de la Falaise de Coudray, which was held at Fitzmaurice's home. The image features Bennett, Marion Davies, Joan Bennett, and Fitzmaurice, among others.
Other images in the lot include an oversize photograph from the wedding of Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, featuring maid of honor Louella Parsons and bridesmaids Diana Fitzmaurice, Constance Talmadge, and Adela Rogers St. John, and an elegant portrait of the sisters posing with a very dapper Ronald Colman (star of Fitzmaurice's The Night of Love). Daniels and Lois Wilson had co-starred in Monsieur Beaucaire (1924) opposite Rudolph Valentino. Also included is a signed photo of Lois Wilson, inscribed "To my very own sister / Love, / Lois" and a signed photograph of opera star Ernestine Schumman-Heink with an accompanying signed letter.
Fitzmaurice's directorial credits include Rudolph Valentino's final film, The Son of the Sheik, Mata Hari starring Greta Garbo, and Suzy. Kane appeared in only a handful of films, and Constance Wilson/Connie Lewis appeared in even fewer, but their sister Lois appeared in dozens of silents.
Most photographs: 8 1/2 x 11 in. to 11 x 14 in.