Stereo analysis
AnalyzedVerdict
Camera moved / alignment issue70%
The pair does not align reliably enough for a trustworthy depth reading; scan skew can also contribute.
- Depth spread
- 16px
- The range of horizontal difference between the two views. More spread generally means more depth; 0–1 px usually indicates a monoview.
- Match
- 90%
- The share of usable picture detail that can be matched between the left and right views. A higher number means a more reliable comparison.
- Vertical
- 4px
- Vertical drift between matched details. Lower is better; 4 px or more can indicate camera movement, scan skew, or poor alignment.
A large horizontal pumping engine occupies both arched-top photographs, its exposed rods and bolted castings leading back toward pipework, a circular gauge and two large wheels. Heavy timber framing encloses the machinery, with plank platforms, ladders and railings providing access around it. No people are visible.
The reverse bears a clear ink caption in three lines: “Pumping Engine / Santa Isabel / 1878”. The date comes from this inscription; no photographer’s or publisher’s imprint is visible.
An attached dealer-catalogue clipping, numbered 153 and headed “CALIFORNIA. Santa Clara County.”, identifies Santa Isabel as a shaft within the New Almaden Mine workings and describes the photograph as an interior of its pump house. The clipping quotes the manuscript caption and notes the light flare visible in the right-hand photograph. It also suggests, “Possibly a view by R. E. Wood.” That attribution remains unconfirmed.
The paired photographs retain clear detail in the machinery and surrounding structure. Localized photographic flare affects the lower left corner of the right-hand image, with a small adjacent surface blemish; otherwise clean and sound. The yellow mount retains both the manuscript caption and the attached catalogue clipping.
- Title on card
- Pumping Engine / Santa Isabel / 1878 (inscribed)
- Medium
- Stereoview
- Subject
- California, Mining, Occupational, Yellow Mount
- Dimensions
- 7 × 4.42 in (177.8 × 112.1 mm)
- Condition
- Localized photographic flare at the lower left corner of the right-hand image, with a small adjacent surface blemish; otherwise clean and sound, with clear machinery detail.
- Provenance
- An attached dealer-catalogue clipping lists the card as item 153 at $37.50. The dealer and catalogue date are not identified, and no ownership history is supplied.
- Catalogue no.
- MSV1880
Catalogue details
Location
Santa Isabel Shaft pump house, Mine Hill, New Almaden Mine (Almaden Quicksilver County Park), California · New Almaden, California, United States
Photographed subject · Street / district · 85% confidence
Inscription “Pumping Engine Santa Isabel 1878”; clipping: “CALIFORNIA. Santa Clara County … interior of the pump house” at the New Almaden Santa Isabel shaft. Park history: shaft started 1877, Cornish pump drained Santa Isabel/Randol/Buena Vista workings; site on Santa Isabel Trail west of Buena Vista Shaft. Pin: Santa Isabel Trail (Google Places); shaft collar not surveyed.
Source: Card inscription + dealer clipping + Almaden park history + Google Places
