Half-plate three-quarter length seated studio portrait ambrotype. Charles Reese, n.d. Full thermoplastic case. Photographer's signature to photograph.

An excellent photo of a southern gentleman, taken by renowned photographer Charles Richard Rees. The gentleman, elegantly dressed in a fine suit coat and vest with a bowtie at his neck, squarely faces the photographer's  lens with his leg crossed. With one arm at his side and the other leaning on a cloth-covered table, his pose is one of refinement. His hair is fashionably styled with a beard and long mustache hanging over his mouth, and his brow is relaxed yet composed. In addition to hand-tinting done by the photographer, Rees's expert style of shooting provides the photograph with a vast amount of detail, such as the designs reflectively visible on the gentleman's chair, and slight pitting on the sides of his cheeks. Rees's signature can be seen in the emulsion along the contour of the gentleman's elbow. 

Charles Richard Rees (1830-1914) is best known for his portraits of Confederate soldiers featuring superb clarity, expert coloring, and a "pearl-like" quality to their emulsion.  Among collectors, he is widely considered the greatest Southern portrait photographer operating during the Civil War. This image is an important and unique addition to his known work. 

[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, Stereographs]