Lot 311
(U.S. BUREAU OF MINING) Group of 38 modernist photographs depicting coal minining operations in Illinois, with images of miners above and below ground.
Silver prints, the images measuring 3 1/4x5 1/2 to 5 1/2x7 1/2 inches (8.3x14 to 14x19.1 cm.), and the reverse, the sheets slightly larger, the mounts 8 1/2x10 1/4 inches (21.6x26 cm.), with an inventory number in the negative, a U.S. Bureau of Mines perforated stamp on recto, and a printed credit in the margin recto; most with a typewritten caption on mount recto. Late 1920s
Estimate $1,500 - 2,500
A series of photographs that loosely depicts a day in the life theme, with images of miners at the start of the workday obtaining a gas lamp, in the shaft arranging blasts or testing roof and gas conditions, and adhering to safety drills as well as scenes of heavy machinery and plant operations, miners' bathhouse, residences, and schools.
