RARE DAGUERREOTYPE OF A CIVIL WAR ERA SOLDIER, LIKELY A MEMBER OF AN EARLY NEW YORK REGIMENT

Sixth plate three-quarter length seated studio daguerreotype. N.p., n.d. Full leatherette case. 

While the daguerreotype had largely passed from common use by 1861, the daguerreian era still lingered at the outbreak of the Civil War, with a handful of surviving examples attesting to its final chapter. This portrait is one such survivor, a rare testament to the medium’s last moment at the threshold of transition, when the ambrotype and tintype would come to dominate wartime photography. 

This fine portrait shows a soldier sat in a chair with his knee crossed and arm dangling off the back, a casual but refined looking pose. Dressed in a pristine uniform, a canvas knapsack is strapped across his back, bearing a blanket roll. The buttons and buckle have been expertly hand-gilt by the photographer. A hat is fitted snug to his head while he looks off to the side of the photographer's lens. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards]