Hand-coloured photography kit

This Marshall’s photo-oil colour set contains the materials necessary to colour photographs by hand, including fifteen tubes of oil paints, long-fibre cotton, application sticks, Marlene medium, prepared medium solution (a primer), paint extender, instruction sheets and colour charts.

Since the advent of photography itself various methods have been used to colour photographs. Until the late nineteenth century photography was the domain of a small group of dedicated experts, and photographic studios employed specialists to add coloured highlights using pigments and gum arabic.

In the 1890s photography was democratised by the invention of the Kodak camera, which required no expert knowledge of photography. This popularisation of photography gave hand-colouring a boost, and there was growing demand in New Zealand, as elsewhere, for the public to be able to colour photographs themselves.

The arrival of marketable colour film, Kodachrome, in the 1930s has led some international historians to suggest that the ‘golden age’ of hand-coloured photography ended in 1940. However it was not until the 1960s that colour prints could be easily mass produced or created by amateurs.

In New Zealand hand-coloured photography was popular until at least the mid-1960s, in part due to the commercial success of Whites Aviation. In the 1950s and 1960s their hand-coloured scenic views featured prominently in many homes and workplaces. Professional hand-colourists were usually women, and although much was made of the feminine patience and care required for the work, ‘the reality was that women were more likely to accept the low pay’ (McCredie 2015, 58).

Marshall’s was a well-known brand and professionals used their photo-oil colours, although this is a hobby set that was probably used by amateurs. Made in New York, Marshall’s photographic colours were advertised in New Zealand from the 1940s.

References

• Alsop, Peter. 2016. Hand-Coloured New Zealand: The History of Whites Aviation. Nelson: Potton and Burton.
• Higgins, Shaun. 2016. 'A Touch of Colour.' Auckland War Memorial museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/topics/a-touch-of-colour
• McCredie, Athol. 2015. New Zealand Photography Collected. Wellington: Te Papa Press.