2 Salt-Paper Prints by Fortuné-Joseph Petiot-Groffier (1788–1855

9 x 12 ½ in. (24 x 33 cm). 1) Hôpital de Chalon-sur-Saône with bridge of the Saône in the foreground. – And: 2) Brick building in Chalon-sur-Saône. – The mayor of his native Chalon-sur-Saône and a well-known figure in the Burgundy region, an interest in the natural sciences lead Fortuné-Joseph Petiot-Groffier to daguerreotype photography after a journey to India in 1840. During the 1850s he turned to the collodion and later to the calotype process, touring with Édouard Baldus through the Auvergne region and becoming a founding member of the Société Française de Photographie in 1854. – Upon Petiot-Groffier's death in 1855, his photographic laboratory shut up in the family house until rediscovered by descendants in 2007. Describing the find as "the world's oldest photographic studio and lab", researchers at the Nicéphore Nièpce House encountered a treasury of "450 flasks, 500 books, ancient large-format cameras, accessories, unexposed plates, negatives and prints by Petiot-Groffier himself". The exceptional ensemble permits a rare glimpse into the darkroom of one of the first photographers.

布雷克拍品等级是为了方便竞买人判断拍卖品的成色而设置的。布雷克等级用1到6级来标注外观和功能的成色，(从非常好到非常差)。 在目录图册里用括号里的2个数字来表示，前一个数字表示外观成色的级别，后一个数字表示功能成色的级别。如(3/2)表示外观成色是3(满意的)，功能成色2(好)。 成色 定义参照下列标准： 1 - 非常好 (未使用过，没有使用痕迹) 2 - 好 (新，极少的使用痕迹) 3 - 满意的 (普通的使用痕迹) 4 - 及格的 (明显的使用痕迹，某个非主要部件是后配的) 5 - 有缺陷的 (极明显的使用痕迹, 某个主要部件是后配的，功能上有缺陷，需要修理) 6 - 非常差 (严重破损, 缺少重要部件)