Entrancing vintage matte-finish 10 x 13 photo (on a 12 x 15.5 photographer’s mount) of a glamorously attired Colbert looking heavenward, boldly signed and inscribed on the image in fountain pen, “To my sparring partner Mr. J. M. Engstead—Love and kisses, Claudette.” The original recipient, John Engstead, was hired as an office boy at Paramount Studios in 1926 and within a few years had become the studio’s Art Supervisor. For the next several decades, he enjoyed a career as a highly sought-after celebrity and glamour photographer; much of his work was collected in the 1978 book Star Shots: Fifty Years of Pictures and Stories by One of Hollywood’s Greatest Photographers. Matted and framed to an overall size of 19.5 x 25. In fine condition. R&R COA. Oversized.
