Ovinius Davis

OVINIUS DAVIS, Photographic Artist, 52, West Nile Street, Glasgow.

    In no department of scientific art has there been evidenced more advance and development than in that of the photographer, which year by year approaches nearer to that acme of perfection so confidently predicted by its discoverer, and which has so nearly been realised by its most eminent professors. The City of Glasgow can, in this connection, justly claim recognition for its possession of some of the leading operative artists in the Kingdom, of whom special distinction must be assigned to Mr. Ovinius Davis, whose popular studio at 52, West Nile Street, is one of the most widely patronised in the West of Scotland.

    The establishment may also justly lay claim to the title -of being the oldest in the City, having been founded by Mr. Davis thirty-five years ago, dating back to the period when the art of photography was yet in its infancy and the capacity of its professors was bound by the limited progress then made in the science. Mr. Davis’ studio is replete with new and improved apparatus, combining every appliance that modern science has suggested for facilitating the execution of every branch of artistic photography in cartes-de-visite, cabinet, promenade, and panel portraits. Mr. Davis also undertakes, with marked success, enlargements from photographs, finished in oils, water-colour, or monochrome, and the execution of highly finished opal portraits in water-colour or monochrome.

    An extensive branch studio has been established at Princes Street, Edinburgh, which is acknowledged to be the largest and best-appointed in Scotland, and with few rivals in magnificence and completeness in the Kingdom. The works are situated at Corstophine, a few miles from Edinburgh, this site having been selected for the purity and brilliancy of the atmosphere, a decided advantage in printing from the negatives, and at this establishment are conducted the various processes of retouching, mounting, and finishing the work.

    Every portrait produced at these establishments can bear inspection, and the enamelled pictures — a process which Mr. Davis was the first to introduce into Scotland — are characterised by a delicacy and life-like fidelity of expression quite unrivalled. The services of a staff of expert operators, retouchers, and assistants are employed in the various departments of the establishment. Orders are constantly received by Mr. Davis for enamelled and enlarged portraits from all parts of the world. The unassailable reputation of the house for perfection of work has long been an acknowledged fact in the artistic world, and the unbroken record of continuous success for the past thirty-five years conveys a far more effective evidence of popular appreciation than could be expressed.

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