1. VITTORIO SELLA. Southern Valleys (Ingur): People at the Gebi [Ghebi, Georgia] Fountain, c. 1889-1890, Sella number CVI 846. 7.6x4.6" collodion print, printed c. 1892-1893, mounted on 11x8.1" heavy brown board. Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner; inscribed 846. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 846. / People at the Gebi fountain; in pencil: CVI; inscription in blue pencil is cut off. Stamped in black ink on mount verso: Depose / Tous Droits Reserves / V. Sella - Biella; inscribed in pencil: VS/1250.
2. VITTORIO SELLA. Southern Valleys (Ingur): Women of Gebi [Ghebi, Georgia], c. 1889-1890, Sella number CVI 835. 7.6x4.6" collodion print, printed c. 1892-1893, mounted on 11x8.1" heavy brown board. Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner; inscribed 835. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 835. / Women of Gebi; in pencil: CVI. Stamped in black ink on mount verso: Depose / Tous Droits Reserves / V. Sella - Biella.
3. VITTORIO SELLA. Southern Valleys (Ingur): The Fountain at Gebi [Ghebi, Georgia], c. 1889-1890, Sella number CVI 845. 7.6x4.6" collodion print, printed c. 1892-1893, mounted on 11x8.1" heavy brown board. Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner; inscribed 845. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 845. / The fountain at Gebi; in pencil: CVI. Stamped in black ink on mount verso: Depose / Tous Droits Reserves / V. Sella - Biella.

Sella was not only a Master of Landscape Photography but also of portraiture. His portraits of the various peoples of the Caucasus--a cross-roads of civilization-- have the compelling power of character as also seen in the environmental portraits August Sander mastered in the 20th century.
Freshfield wrote on p. 118 "At a little distance the maidens of the place, adorned with necklaces of seashells, pieces of amber and many-patterned beads, clad in bright red robes and crowned with turbans, made up of a party coloured cotton handkerchief fastened on the top of a long white cloth that falls down the back, gossip round the fountain, or, ranged in a circle, pass the time in songs and dances."

1. 846 Good/Excellent: 1/4x1/4" area of damage on upper R corner of print; some silver mirroring in image shadows. Mount somewhat dirty.
2. 835 Good: moderate wear overall; 1 1/2" vertical scratch on upper half of print. Mount somewhat dirty and fragile, with small missing sections in upper and lower edges. Lower edge repaired with modern board, additional tape on mount verso.
3. 845 Excellent. minor wear overall. Mount somewhat dirty, with pinhole in upper center.