THE TITIAN
G. Gennert, 24 & 26 East 13th Street, New York 1899 - 1900
5x7
Sold by W.S. Bell
& Company of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, the Titian was a private-branded version of G Gennert's Folding Montauk, Style I.
Like the Folding Montauk, it's equipped with a Bausch
& Lomb Unicum, a very popular shutter of the period. The camera is beautifully constructed with French-polished
wood, gleaming lacquered brass and a lens board that encapsulates the lens
standard's posts. This example typifies the quality found in G. Gennert's
products during the mid-to-late 1890's.
The Titian
Folding Montauk Style 1
It's interesting to note that both these Gennert
self-casing cameras have a 4-digit serial number stamped into the bed, just
beneath the viewfinder. These numbers aren't found on all Gennert cameras, but
were in this instance:
The Titian Folding Montauk Style 1
Founded as a photographic supply house by Gustav Gennert in the 1850's, Gennert
introduced the Montauk name with the appearance of the Montauk Detective Camera
in 1889. The original Folding Montauk would be introduced by 1895, with Cycle Montauks appearing by the
late 1890's.
As with other G. Gennert cameras, the Folding Montauk is
very uncommon compared to most Poco and Premo cameras that were manufactured in
greater volumes.
Little has been learned regarding the W.S. Bell &
Company, which was a photographic supply house located at 410 Wood Street,
Pittsburg that was still in business in 1922. The origin of the camera's name
is unknown, and it's the only Titian-badged camera I've ever encountered.
For more information on Gennert's Montauk Detective and Folding
Montauk Style 1, and other Antique Cameras,
click on the links below:
G.
Gennert Montauk Detective Camera
G.
Gennert Folding Montauk Style 1