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T. Enami
The Cooper
1910-1923 (ca)
Lantern-slide
Private collection of Rob Oechsle
LL/26525
Affixed under the glass is the standard label found on all post-1929 slides issued by T. Enami's son, Tamotsu, including re-issues of Meiji and Taisho-era images by T. Enami. (Slides from Enami's earliest 1892-95 period were all made from numbered album views, and do not carry any studio identification). It must be remembered that the studio at No.29 BENTENDORI [sometimes lowercase and hypenated 29 Benten-dori] was established by T. Enami during the last years of his life. The possibility exists that any No.29 slide not proven to be published by his son is one made by the master himself, under his supervision. For odd slides found without context, such precise dating or provenance is difficult to determine. Many times, though, groups of slides are found with circumstantial info that allows dating of the physical production of the slide itself (though not the date of the image it contains, which is usually an earlier image by T. Enami taken anywhere from 1892-1929). Such production dating clues include (1) knowledge of the cruise date(s) of the original owner of the slide sets, (2) order sheets that are sometimes found with the sets, or (3) dateable objects or events in the slide itself. Post-1929 images that are not by T. Enami are usually amateur views by the tourist, and not the processor/printer Tamotsu. In any case, most No.29 Benten-Dori T. Enami slides, although sold by his son, are made by the same darkroom staff and colorists that worked under the elder Enami's strict supervision prior to his death.
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