1. VITTORIO SELLA. Ushba, from 7,500 feet, on the Gvalda Glacier, c. 1889-1890, Sella number CII 763. 15.3x11.3" collodion print, printed c. 1892-1893, flush mounted on thin board, mounted on 13x16 1/2" grey board. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: Caucasus Ushba, from 7,500 feet, on the Gvalda Glacier II 763; Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner; Inscribed in pencil on mount verso: C-II / 763.

2. VITTORIO SELLA. Ushba, from Mazeri village, c. 1889-1890, Sella number CII 769. 15.3x11.2" collodion print, printed c. 1892-1893, flush mounted on thin board, mounted on 13 1/8x16 1/2" grey board. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: Caucasus Ushba II 769; Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner; Inscribed in ink on mount verso: Caucasus Mts. / Illegible / Ushba.

From August through October 1890 he went with his brother Erminio, photography assistant Emilio Botta, guide Fabian Croux, and porters Secondino Bianchetti and Giuseppe Gamba for a second trip to the Caucasus. On August 7 Sella photographed a funerary feast day, which is the subject of many photographs in this group. There were four first ascents; traveling to Zinaga, Adai Khokh district (including mapping), and Suanetian Glaciers, they returned through Suanetia, photographing Ushba and the countryside and making ethnographic views.

"At daybreak grey mists were driving about the higher peaks. Still the weather did not look by any means hopeless. The chief fatigue in the ascent was a tiresome gully - tiresome only because it was filled with loose, small fragments of slate, which sank under the feet like shingle on a sea - beach. Above this a rocky buttress, where Signor Sella found many crystals of great size, gave easy access to the snow. On our right the neve ended in broken cliffs, fragments of which formed a small glacier remained at the bottom of a dark precipice far below us. On our left the mountain sloped in an enormous mass of absolutely smooth slate, pitched at a very high angle. At this point the clouds covered us, and all distant view was lost. Twenty minutes' tramp up snow-banks brought us to the long level ridge that forms the summit. Freshfield" p. 124.

Ushba (4,710 m (15,450 ft) is one of the most notable peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. It is in the Svaneti region of Georgia, just south of the border with the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia. Although it does not rank in the 10 highest peaks of the range, Ushba is known as the "Matterhorn of the Caucasus" for its picturesque, spire-shaped double summit. Due to its steep profile and unstable weather, Ushba is considered by many climbers as the most difficult ascent in the Caucasus.

1. 763 G Good: Moderate wear, dirt, scratches and abrasions. Mount has tears, chips, edge and corner wear. 10" horizontal line on upper edge of print; some wear along upper edge of print.

2. 769 Very Good: Mild wear, dirt, scratches and abrasions. Mount has tears, chips, edge and corner wear.