This is an unusually packaged tintype of three shopkeepers, one with a broom. I have more than good reason to suspect that the image is not original to the packet in which it resides – the packet itself is very oddly assembled, with the brass frame in four separate sections held together by a strangely still elastic string.The packet itself consists of the cover glass, the brass passepartout, the tintype, and a very thick backing glass that appears to have been blackened at one point with some kind of varnish that has faded and flaked off in spots over the intervening century and a half. The varnished back glass would suggest that it had been originally paired with a clear glass ambrotype. However, a clear glass ambrotype would have been thicker than the tintype, and the packet as is barely fits inside the brass frame. Altogether, a mystery of how this particular ensemble came to be assembled as it currently stands.
The last acquisition from yesterday’s outing to Gettysburg – another possible occupational cdv of six men by Turner of Toronto. I’m guessing it’s an occupational although it doesn’t show tools of the trade, because all six men are wearing nearly identical outfits – three are definitely wearing the exact same shirts, and perhaps a fourth. Even with different shirts, the others’ attire is similar enough that they appear to be uniforms. The other possibility is that this is a family portrait of brothers and/or cousins – there is definite facial similarity amongst several pairs of the men.
Six Men, by Turner of Toronto
Note the rusticated furniture they’re sitting on – I can’t tell if it is a single bench seat or a grouping of chairs. Also, for the curious, since it’s hard to read in a vertical orientation, the photographer’s imprint on the verso reads: “Turner, Photographer, Southwest Corner, King & Yonge Sts, Toronto”. This is my first Canadian (that I’m aware of) CDV.
I’ve done some mild enhancement and cleanup in Photoshop on this one, as the original is definitely more faded than this. I generally don’t do much if any photomanipulative digital restoration to the images I post because I want them to be representative of the actual image in my possession, but sometimes, as in this case, I do a bit of tweaking in order to make the image more readable. I promise no albumen was harmed in the making of this digitization.
Another CDV from today’s excursion: I’m assuming the young man is a sailor, based on his attire and the view of the ship through the painted window on the backdrop. The only identifying mark of any kind is the oversized signature on the verso, “Jack”, although the “c” in Jack is oddly formed – could it be Jaek? Jark? Jack seems most likely.
Jack the Sailor
Although it has as much to do with condition as it does the image itself, I love the atmospheric feel of the photo and the Mona Lisa-esque expression on his face. I don’t know if he is in fact a sailor, but without other evidence to the contrary, that’s what I’m calling him.
I went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania today, as much to get out of the house while we still had nice weather (I think it was nearly 70F for the high today, even if a bit overcast!) as anything else. My parents had been up there a couple weeks ago, and told me about this one antiques shop that they thought was worth visiting. The shop not only had a much better than usual bin of “instant ancestors” (more on that in a minute), but they also had an amazing display of (surprisingly reasonably priced) other Civil War -era photos (dags, cased tins, and cased ambrotypes) and a veritable museum worth of vintage rifles, muskets, pistols, swords, cannonballs, uniforms and paraphernalia (canteens, insignia, and so on). I picked up a quartet of “instant ancestors”, and had my eye on three others that were in the box but not bargain priced. Over in the big glass display case with all the high-ticket cased images of identified soldiers both Union and Confederate, there was this occupational tintype, complete with embossed leather case:
Occupational Trio, Cased Tintype ca. 1865
I’m showing it here out of its case because I scanned the tintype on my flatbed scanner while I had the packet apart to clean the cover glass (some idiot decided to stick the price tag to the cover glass with cellophane tape that was not a “magic” residue-free tape). This one was a minor splurge as I’m trying to keep myself to a budget, but given the overall quality I felt it was well worth it.
As to the subject matter – does anyone have any idea what profession these gentlemen might have? My first thought was butcher, but they don’t seem to be wielding any butcher’s knives or have any of their product with them. My second thought went to baker, but again, no bread in the photo, and I’ve seen bakers before holding bread. Perhaps greengrocers? Shop clerks? The aprons are rather long for general store clerks, I think, but I’m not an expert on 19th century tradesmens uniforms.
To take a break from the High Heel Race photos, here’s two new CDVs in the antique image collection.
Cross-dressed Women by Mattheson
This pair of women in men’s clothes are rather unusual for the time period (1860s-early 1870s). Without knowing any back-story behind the photo, it’s hard to tell if this was just a couple of friends on a lark dressing up like lads (the mustaches were added by the photographer, much as hand-coloring or gilding of jewelry would have been done, for an additional fee) or if this was a comic way of expressing a deeper relationship between these two women. Without knowing, I’m filing this in my collection under the category of “Performers”, because it certainly is a performance of gender and gender identity, and it COULD be a theatrical, like the Ike Partington photo I posted earlier. I don’t know if there was a comedic play of the time period that called for women to play men’s parts.
Jack Russell Dog in Circus Ruff, Uruguay
This is a CDV I bought from a vendor in Uruguay (on Ebay). These two photos kind-of go together in that the dog is wearing a ruff, so in some way he’s probably a circus performer. This is a heavily restored version of the CDV – the idiot seller shipped it basically in a plain envelope, with no protection, so it arrived with a MAJOR crack running across the CDV just above the dog’s head. I thought I’d at least preserve the image content and post it.
Another actor in costume photo from the golden age of CDVs. Miss Sallie Holman dressed as Ike Partington (if you couldn’t tell from the name, a comedic role involving gender confusion/cross-dressing). This one hits on all the notes – a great CDV of a performer in costume, cross-dressing, “gay interest”, celebrity photographer. This is somewhat equivalent to the famous Garbo-in-a-tux photo of the 1930s, or Dustin Hoffman as Tootsie.
CORRECTION: It is Ike Partington, so I have corrected the title and elsewhere to reflect that.
Here is a vintage silver gelatin print of a sailor’s ritual head shaving on his first crossing of the equator. Note the “mermaid” in long blond wig administering the shaving, and the asian sailor restraining the recipient of the haircut. This must have been a merchant ship, possibly in the Pacific, pre- WW II. In any case, a fascinating snippet of nautical culture as seen from an insider’s perspective.
Here is a remarkably well-preserved CDV of Arthur Cleveland Coxe, the second Episcopal bishop of New York. He was also known as a poet, and from the titles and descriptions of the works, he sounds like a typical mid-19th century American author, which is to say long-winded and basically unreadable to today’s audiences. This must have been a well-known image of him; if you go to Wikipedia to read his biography, you’ll see a copy of this same portrait.
I fell off the wagon again, as it were, with this image of a team of horses pulling a wagon. Dates and location unknown, but it’s a pretty big tintype – approximately 5″x7″. I’m assuming it’s an American image, but the wagon doesn’t look like a type I’m used to seeing in early American images. But I’m no wagon expert – anyone who knows more about this stuff, could they be English?
Horse Team and Wagon, anonymous, date unknown (2nd half 19th century)
Betcha thought I had quit collecting! Nah, it’s just in hiatus – makes for a good winter pastime when you’re cooped up in the house. But I found a couple more images that were interesting enough to add.
First up – another Tom Thumb and his Wife. I love this one not only because it shows them in their advancing years, but it demonstrates that they remained culturally relevant throughout their lives. I also love the handwritten notes on the back – in this case it gets things wrong about them (they were NOT 18th century performers, and I’m not aware that they were musicians – Tom Thumb’s main performance was as a comic impersonator, doing skits where he portrayed Napoleon and Cupid).
Tom Thumb and Minnie Warren, in their advancing years
Here’s another circus performer pair – the hand-written label says “Gullie and Lottie Tarkinton”. I was unable to find any reference to who they were. They’re not listed on Olympians of the Sawdust Circle. I’m guessing they are sisters, perhaps even twins. The one is dressed and posed in a very masculine way, quite in contrast to the other, which is its own kind of interesting. And I’m a sucker for a photo that you can see the head clamp stands in.
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