Gove,Otis and Bennett, Allen
Maitland : 1884
The San Francisco firm Gove and Allen set a brisk pace in the conduct of their business in Australia, with coverage including Hobart, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, as well as numerous towns. The Launceston Examiner provided a description of the firm and their work in 1880:
New Firm.-Messrs Allen and Gove have opened a studio in Brisbane-street for the taking of
photographs by the ferrotype system. The process has the advantage of being almost instantaneous
in the taking and the photos never fade. Ten minutes is only occupied before the pictures are
supplied finished... From specimens which we inspected the portraits are clear and true, and are remarkably cheap. [1]
The availability of Gove and Allen’s studio in Maitland was limited to January and February of 1884, architect Pender initially calling for tenders for a portable photographic gallery in November 1883. [2]
After creating a photographic gallery in January 1884, it was all over by16 February, with the gallery being auctioned.[3]
Gove and Allen’s speciality was the production of ‘gems’, a miniature portrait, about 1inch (2.5 centimetres) square which were a form of ‘tintype’ photograph.
Gove and Allen were not the first gem producers.
A short-lived business specialising in gems was the Maitland Ferro Gem Company, appearing and disappearing in 1881.
While much of their production was in ‘gems’, this carte-de-visite of a young lady (right) has been sourced from the State Library of Victoria.
Other Allen and Gove tintype gems are also available at the State Library of Victoria [4] Art Gallery of New South Wales [5] and the State Library of South Australia. [6]
All Gove and Allen studios ceased trading by 1885.
[1] Launceston Examiner 21 June 1880
[2] Maitland Mercury, 27 November 1883
[3] Maitland Mercury, 12 February 1884
[5] http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/search/?q=gove+allen
[6] https://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/