EXTRAORDINARILY RARE PORTRAIT OF A DOUBLE-ARM AMPUTEE CONFEDERATE OFFICER

American studio, ca. 1863–66. Quarter plate tintype trimmed to 2 1/2 x 4 1/8 in.

Provenance: Alejandro “Alex” de Quesada Jr. acquired this portrait from the collection of author and historian, Bill Turner (“More Confederate Faces,” etc.)

Full-length studio tintype showing a Confederate line officer standing before a painted woodland backdrop, wearing a double-breasted frock coat with elaborate Austrian-knot cuff braid and contrasting collar and cuffs, dark trousers, and a slouch hat tipped to the side; the coat’s empty sleeves fall naturally at his sides, recording the sitter as a bilateral arm amputee. Gilt is delicately applied to buttons and insignia.

Images of Civil War amputees are scarce; portraits of officers who suffered loss of both arms are of the highest rarity and profound historical resonance. This dignified view encapsulates the human cost of the conflict while testifying to the sitter’s status and resolve, choosing to be recorded in full uniform after catastrophic injury. Confederate medical records and pension rolls document very few double-arm amputees; contemporary photographs of such men are seldom encountered outside institutional collections.