Clapshaw Glass Plate Negatives

Woman on a curule chair

A portrait of a woman wearing a loosely ruffled white dress with a ruched central band, and a delicate necklace. She gazes straight into the camera. She is seated on an ornate curule chair in front of a plain backdrop. This photograph was taken by amateur photographer William Alonso Clapshaw, probably in his home studio around 1910-1914. Several other photographs exist that were taken in the same setting. The woman may be his relative or friend. Flaws in the image are due to scratches, dust and fingerprints on the negative.

This is one image from a set of glass plate negatives created by William Alonso Clapshaw. Clapshaw was a clerk and shopkeeper who lived near Forest Grove, Oregon for most of his life. He was born in 1880, probably at the family's home in the Hillside neighborhood of Forest Grove, on what is now Clapshaw Hill Road east of Gales Creek. Around 1910-1914, William took an interest in photography and created a set of glass plate negatives documenting scenes near his family's lands as well as images of himself, his friends and family members. He most likely used a silver gelatin dry plate process. The photographs were donated to the Pacific University Archives in 2023.

Clapshaw, William Alonso, 1880-1977

circa 1910-1914

PUA_MS154_004

Portraits

Women

Forest Grove, Oregon

Gelatin silver negatives

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Pacific University Archives