Sale of Jim Barron’s collection of British Cameras

There is always a cachet to a provenanced single-ower collection, especially that of a well-known owner, and someone so interested in his subject. Jim Barron (1927-2002) had been involved with photography since his youth, when he swapped an apprenticeship in engineering for photographing equipment for a used machinery company in the arches under King’s Cross Station. He went on to work as a photographer for the Civil Service, then for the Guardian and then moved into documentary film making and landscape photography. He was also an inveterate collector; although cameras were not his first enthusiasm, they followed on from automobilia and posters and he started with American Press cameras.

The British cameras offered here were his last enthusiasm, which he began collecting in the mid-1980s.
The 137 lots comprised an overview of British Camera manufacture from 1850-1950, but British press cameras, which interested him professionally, were particularly well represented. He bought from Christie’s own sales, from dealers, and collectors and part of the audience’s enthusiasm for this sale stemmed from other camera
enthusiasts’ keenness to get a glimpse of Mr Barron’s collection in its entirety. The sale pulled in not just regular buyers but also new overseas faces, who gave a welcome boost to demand for some of the earlier pieces.

Between them they not only ensured that everything found a new home but that many of the pieces made stronger than usual prices. Perhaps the most dramatic instance came with the folding tropical Minox pictured here and on the catalogue cover.

Made by A. Adams and Co of London
probably in the 1920s, this top-of-the-range teak-bodied model was in fine condition with a full range of accessories and its maker’s pigskin case and was
pursued to a quintuple- estimate £10,000.