EXTREMELY RARE CONFEDERATE GROUP PORTRAIT TAKEN IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA

W. Chase Photograph Gallery, 131 Granville Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, ca. 1861–64. Albumen print, carte‑de‑visite format (standard size, approx. 2 ½ × 4 in.), on original studio mount with red backmark “(W. CHASE) PHOTOGRAPH GALLERY … 131 GRANVILLE STREET, HALIFAX.”

A remarkable studio portrait of four Confederate soldiers in early‑war shell jackets and kepis, posed before a partially draped Confederate battle flag. Two are seated, two standing; the composition is formal yet intimate, with superb tonal range and period studio furnishings visible at the margins.

Halifax- neutral, British, and strategically placed, was a key Atlantic port for blockade‑running commerce and occasional Confederate visitors, agents, and sympathizers. While photographs of Confederates taken in Europe are scarce, documented Canadian images are rarer still; group portraits with a Confederate flag in the backdrop are almost unknown in private hands. The early uniform styles and the Halifax imprint strongly suggest a visit during the first half of the war, whether by soldiers connected with blockade‑running ventures or men traveling through British North America.