Item Details
Cain of London photography and ephemera collection.
London: Cain of London / Anthony Burls, ca. [1960-1980s]. Unique. From the estate of Anthony Clifford Burls, AKA Cain of London; containing original photography, curated cuttings, et al. Remnants of his collection, deemed too explicit for auction. The photographs in this document are uncensored.
Professionally, Burls would regularly photograph young men fully clothed, either in public parks, or a south London studio (a garage in Oval), and self-publish the catalogues for mail order by virtue of printer and staple. While some retail spots in London dared to stock them, this was predominantly a mail-order affair, encouraging customers to purchase full photo sets by return.
While some of the original photographs in this collection may have been used in the Cain of London catalogues, the explicit nature of the majority lean heavily towards a personal collection, both original photographs by Burls (alias: Tom Cain) as well as favoured contemporary material. This collection is an insight into the tastes and tales of one of our most important LGBTQ photographers throughout the tribulations of the latter half of the 20th century.
"Published in 1957, the Wolfenden Report marked the partial decriminalisation of gay sexual activity in Britain, prompting gay liberation and the fight for social equality. Despite this historic moment in queer history, any depiction of male nudity suggesting homosexuality remained subject to the 1857 Obscene Publications Act, which made making or distributing such images a criminal offence.
As a result, queer visual culture in the UK remained clandestine in the post-war era, right up until the Sexual Offences Act of 1967. Photographers and publishers resorted to covert forms of image production and circulation to get around the law, and a fascinating tension between invisibility and visibility fed into the overt visuals of gay men’s bodies that emerged."--Creative Review.
Cain of London — pseudonym for Tony Bowles (Anthony C. Burls?) — was a British physique photographer who self-published a number of magazine-size collections of his own work. There is an interview published in Sam vol. 1 no. 2 (1977), where he refers to his real name as Tony Bowles. However, the photographs taken for his first magazine The Londoners (a folio of prints and photos, copies of which are at [the UK Leather and Fetish Archive] are all marked as being taken by Anthony C. Burls. Burls also published The Cain Leather Boys, featuring transfer type of Univers 67 Bold Condensed]] applied directly to the prints as photo captions. He photographed engaged young men to model through street casting agency. He ran a coffee shop at World’s End in Chelsea in the 1960s, took casual work at Battersea Funfair and regularly attended a gym in Brixton. He used these contexts to find working-class men to photograph to illustrate the male "beefcake" physique form.
An itemized list follows:
1) Photocopy of the Certificate of Registration for Cain of London, dated 2nd May, 1968, in the name of Anthony Clifford Burls.
2) Spirollo branded ring bound scrapbook, 25x31cm. Tan card covers over dark brown card leaves, probably 1970s. Significant wear and tear to covers, with an attempt at tape repair.
Loosely inserted 2 greetings cards to Tony from “Den and Ben”, plus an invitation addressed to Tony & Dennis to Derek’s Birthday Bash. Date unclear, however the mobile phone number listed is pre-Big Number Change, so likely prior to c. 1995. Also inserted is a cutting of The HIM Hanky Code, and a 25 x 20cm B&W photograph of a young male holding a football “Billy McNeill”, stamped to the rear with company name ‘Hoffman of Edinburgh’.
The scrapbook contains 21 filled pages, and is paginated in red biro. Entries are varied, from cuttings from 1950s/60s issues of Physique Pictorial, including reproductions of sketches by Touko Laaksonen (as Tom of Finland), posed leatherboy and sailor shots, and posing-strap-era Athletic Model Guild (AMG). Some of the later entries have been coloured. Newspaper cuttings from Soho’s ‘The Most Brothers’ who were briefly active in the 1950s also appear. Five larger pages from later more explicit 1970s/80s porn magazines loosely inserted: Falcon Studios advertisement & order form; full frontal page on model Kip Jerger (1973); full page full frontal photo of ‘Golden Gallery Ben’ (1978); Double sided photo page of single male models. Additionally there is a page from TV All Star Spectacular, likely Winter 1978 issue, of Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict “The Handsomest Guys In (And Out Of!) This World! Hatch and Benedict at the time starred in Battlestar Galactica.
3) Six large (approx. 30cm by 24cm) black and white photographs, all with numbers penciled to the reverse, the numbering not consecutive. All six are full frontal, one model not identifiable due to close up nature of image - leather glove and chains are however present.
4) Fifteen large (Approx. 25cm by 20cm) photographs, a mixture of black and white and sepia toned, 10 original. Eight full frontal. Leather jackets and studded belts present throughout set. All but 4 with notes or reference numbers to the reverse as well as the model’s name in pencil, 1 stamped “Hoffman of Edinburgh”, 2 with the “Cain of London” stamp, and one “Copyright, Supplied for use in Q International only” penned. Models are: Dave James; Tommy Roberts & Randy Stuard (from Kings Men); Lawrence; Anton Saxon.
5) Six black and white photographs (Approx. 17.5cm by 12.5cm), with no stamps or annotations. All of the same model, leatherboy style.
6) Eighteen photographs (approx. 14.5cm by 10.5cm), black and white, 8 different models, mostly with their names stamped in red to the reverse. Candid domestic shots as well as posed for professional use. Models names: Ken Garaguy; Rex Luxoreni; Sim Simonil; Sec Seconde; Igo Dominic; Rod Lincoln; Jil Jillemo; Jem Bogaard;
7) Twenty-one photographs (Approx. 16.5cm by 12cm), mostly pants on, possibly for personal consumption, a mixture of black and white and sepia toned, the latter quite faded. One with a Peterborough phone number to the reverse. Artistic style shots, predominantly crotch close ups.
8) Four photographs (approx. 17.5cm by 13.5cm) of the same couple fully nude in an intimate sequence, with sequential reference numbers in pencil to the reverse.
9) Ten photographs (Approx. 17.5 by 12.5cm), black and white, a series all of the same model in shorts and braces, blank to the reverses.
10) Thirty-four photographs (Approx. 17.5cm by 12.5cm), black and white, high quality. Sequences of five different models full frontal, plus an eight photograph explicit sequence of a couple in a changing room. Blank to the reverses.
11) Collection of photographic 35mm / square negatives:
Four panel strip of four young men at a theme/water park.
Two individual panels of a young woman (one on a motorbike)
Eight individual b/w negatives, sequence of a male unbuttoning his jeans (close up). 2.5x2.5"
Five full colour 35mm slides, sequence of two men naked from the waist down playfighting in woods.
One larger full colour transparency of a nude young man, seated. 4x5"
Two panel strip of three males together (clothed)
Single additional panel of a male in jeans (close up)
12) Twenty-one loose cuttings, some from Physique Pictorial etc, 1960s. Some more explicit drawings present, including an explicit 'Etienne' sport series. Domingo Orejudos, Dom, aka "Etienne" is known for artwork depicting the male body in all of its leather straining heroic proportions—creating fantasies of domination and submission of mostly leather men. Cuttings also include Tom of Finland’s artwork not accepted by AGM as distributors, but with alternate distributors listed.
One annotation (of several) in pencil reads “just about right!” with an arrow pointing to the outline of a model’s genitals. Artists include Etienne; Damen; Ronald Wright; Luger; Stephen. Models include: Davind Mineric; Bob Kiser; Richard Edwards; Troy Saxon etc.
13) Three heterosexual hardcore black and white pornographic photographs, probably 1970s.
14) Four pieces of ephemeral advertising material from Hoffman of Edinburgh, Royale Catalog, & Scott Photography (plus one unknown mounted on thick card), plus five other assorted black and white photographs.
15) Fourteen greetings cards to Tony, mostly 1980s and 1990s, including one doubling as a letter with a long communication from somebody named Mick, addressed to Tony (+ Sandie!),
who appears to have emigrated to Texas: “Joined the Houston YMCA and go to the gym frequently. The men there are worth going to see and it is 50% gay.” Usually addressed to either Tony or Tony together with Sandie, from variations of Den, Den & Ben, Den ‘n’ Ben ‘n’ John, or Mike. Generally explicit, one from Den reads “if you don’t like the card, give it us back”. Cards published by among others: Colt collection T.N.T Designs, Rockshots, Original Denis Moloney photograph.
16) 1988 & 1989 “Clone Zone” catalogues. Included in the 1988 Christmas edition is the single page mailing list subscription reminder. 1989 catalogue retains the pre-addressed order envelope to the mail order dept based in Manchester. Sex toys, books, cards & gifts.
The UK & EU's first Gay superstore, Clone Zone was started in London by four friends Mike, David, Paul and John, in the early eighties, with their official launch taking place in Leicester Sqaure, 1982. Very Good+. Photographs have notations, many curled, else tight and clean. Collection of over 150 b/w photographs, including photographic prints, photo-plate reproduction prints, b/w 35mm negative, color transparency, square b/w negatives, postcards, ring binder scrapbook, ephemera, loose illustrations. Housed in archives box. Item #10953
Price: $9,500.00