Category Archives: Cabinet Cards

actors, Cabinet Cards, Cased Images, CDVs, Collecting, Native American, Photography

The Native Americans

March 1, 2012 dcphotoartist 4 Comments

Just a quick recap of the Native American images I have in my collection.

Anonymous Asian-, Native-, or African-American boy

Navajo Brave, Grand Canyon, attributed to Karl Moon

There’s one more I’ll have to scan, but it is NOT an original image, rather a halftone reproduction pasted onto a vintage cabinet card stock. The image is of two southwest Indians of indeterminate tribal origin and quite honestly of indeterminate gender. It MAY be a vintage print, but it most certainly is not an original photograph. It’s a good illustration of the risks and pitfalls of antiques hunting – I found it in a little antiques mall in Delaware. The space was, while not poorly lit, definitely on the dim side. Enough so that I did not recognize the halftone dots. I paid $40 for the image, thinking at the time I was getting a great deal. I discovered the halftoning when I went to scan the image to email it to the National Museum of the American Indian to see if they could identify it better for me. When I zoomed in on the hi-res scan, the halftone dots popped off the screen! I was dismayed to discover this – I probably paid about $35 too much for it, given the fact it was a reproduction, but in the long run, I came out ahead. At the same time I bought it, I also bought another CDV of Lydia Thompson, a Victorian era actress, showing her in costume from a role she played in 1872. That one? I want to say I paid $5, but it was definitely less than $10. In the process of researching who she was I found a similar CDV of the same image on ebay, selling for $100. The object lesson here? Take a loupe with you when you go photo hunting. It could make the difference between paying original art prices for a poster-quality reproduction, or getting a good deal on an original image. It’s a variation on the old carpenters’ adage: Examine twice, pay once.

Cabinet Cards, Collecting, Photography

Cyclists and Athletes

February 17, 2012 dcphotoartist 3 Comments

Bicycle Messenger by Harding, Susquehanna PA

Two more bicyclists in the collection. Both from the same time period – turn of the 20th century. One is a bike messenger, the other a competitive cyclist. Notice the difference in the handlebars of the bikes- the messenger has fairly traditional straight-across handlebars whereas the racing bike has proto- drop handlebars like we see on modern racing bikes. I love the racing cyclist’s cap – it’s the little details that make the image with these kinds of photos.

Here’s an interesting one, a portrait of an athlete, but it doesn’t show anything to indicate what sport he partakes in.

Cabinet Cards, CDVs, Civil War, Collecting, Military, Photography

Soldiers and Sailors

February 1, 2012 dcphotoartist 1 Comment

Here’s a Union soldier, identity unknown, from the William J. Tait studio. This may well have been taken immediately prior to shipping out to battlefields unknown – the studio address is Courtlandt Street and Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan – basically in the site of the modern World Trade Center. Back then it would have been only two or three blocks from the waterfront piers. It’s another image that obviously meant a lot to someone as it has a fold across the middle – someone was carrying it around with them in a pocket. Did the sitter die in combat, or was it just a fond memory of a critical time in US history that inspired the owner to keep it at hand?

In a totally different light, here’s a west coast sailor. This time, most likely the 1890s, on a cabinet card. The original card is a little bit bigger than 3.5″ by 5″. I did a very mild clean-up of the scan in Photoshop to make the image more readable online. The original card is slightly lower in contrast and has a couple very minor spots in the background that do not interfere with the subject. I tried to scan his hat at high resolution to see if I could read the ship’s name he was assigned to, but it couldn’t be resolved (at least not with my scanner).

Sailor, 1890s, Rembrandt Studio, San Francisco

There’s a noticeable difference between the two photos, and I don’t think it is just attributable to the changes in photo technology between 1860 and 1890. The Civil War sitter has a far more somber expression on his face and in his body language – it’s as if he knows he is going to die, and this is a reminder to send back to his family so they won’t forget him when he’s gone. The 1890s sailor, on the other hand, is having a lark, getting his portrait done while in port perhaps as much a souvenir of the location as anything else. Later I’ll re-scan and post my Hong Kong sailor photos to provide a comparison.

Cabinet Cards, Collecting, Photography

More Joys of Collecting (and a mystery to solve)

December 31, 2011 dcphotoartist 1 Comment

I love finding images that are interesting to me. The price is not an issue – if it interests me, I’ll buy it, whether the price is fifteen cents or $1500. Well, I’ve not spent THAT much on an image yet… This is an example of something that was definitely in the lower end of that price range – it’s in horrible condition, but in some ways that poor condition says a lot more to me than something pristinely original. Call it patina if you will – every tear, wrinkle, crease and crack tells a story about the image. This one meant a lot to someone, as it certainly looks like it got carried around in a pocket for decades. I’m guessing one of the three brothers in the photo.

That wear and tear, although it devalues the image from a monetary standpoint, adds so much history to the image. For the record, it was less than $4. The thing that fuels an interest in these anonymous images is the narrative potential – not only the who and the why of the image itself, but when you look at something that’s had a life like this, the what happened to the image as well. Where did it go, what events did it participate in? I’ve just been reading a book about the end of the Comanche empire in the 1870s. Eventually the Comanches were confined to reservations in Oklahoma, along with a number of other Plains tribes and the so-called five “Civilized Tribes” forcibly displaced from their original homes in the south and east. Given that this is a cabinet card, I’d place it closer to 1900 than 1870, but the chronological and geographic proximity is nonetheless intriguing. This and a couple other images I have will likely go to the National Museum of the Native American if they’re interested.

The titular mystery to solve is, as always, the identity of the subjects. If anyone out there wants to take a crack at it, I’d love all the help I can get. I’ve scanned the reverse of the card, and have posted it below. I can make out what appears to be “R. Bald Eagle” on the upper left, and lower down I’m seeing fragments that say “..hegen… who…in…bead”. Also if anyone knows good scanning technique to try and further extract the text (written in pencil) I’m all ears, as that technique would be very handy down the road.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Photography, Alternative Processes, Really Big Cameras, and other cool stuff