Confederate Soldier

Chattahooch33

Sergeant Major
Annual Winner
Joined
Oct 4, 2013
Location
Cobb's Legion Country - Bowdon, Ga.
In Carrollton, Georgia is Horton's Books, the oldest bookstore in Georgia which was founded in 1891. I was walking around in there this past weekend and their top shelf has old pictures that the lady who owns the store says were found either in old books or were with the building when she bought it (they moved from one side of the square to the other years ago).

I saw this and asked if she minded if I took a picture of it with my phone. She said "Not at all, but are you sure you didn't just want to buy it? Its only $12.

...I bought it

1.jpg


It caught my attention because the guy is wearing almost the exact jacket, trousers, and hat as my reenacting kit.

Also, his coat matches the coat worn by Capt. Christopher Columbus Thompson of the 16th Georgia (@lelliott19) in his image.

I'd love to know who he is, or at least where he was from.
 
Post the picture in Civil War Faces on Facebook. There's a lot of image collectors there including David Wynn Vaughan. Is there a backmark on the image? And is it CDV size?
 
Post the picture in Civil War Faces on Facebook. There's a lot of image collectors there including David Wynn Vaughan. Is there a backmark on the image? And is it CDV size?

I took it out of a frame and started messing with it. It seems to be stuck in that small white paper frame thing and I got scared of damaging it.
 
I took it out of a frame and started messing with it. It seems to be stuck in that small white paper frame thing and I got scared of damaging it.
Yeah definitely don't do anything to damage it. :unsure: It may have a photographers back mark on it though. If it does you may be able to narrow down at least where it was taken and when (based on when that photographer was operating at that location.) Also, any unique features in the background or even props like that chair can sometimes be attributed to a specific photographer.

The image has a lot of contrast to it. Dark parts are very dark. Can you tell if any of that hand painted onto the image or is it all a result of the photography process?
 
Another pointer... don't damage or destroy the paper frame. The arrangement of the stars in the border might be unique to a specific photographer. You don't want to remove, damage, or destroy anything that might be a clue.
 
Nice pick up. Its period, but looks to be a copy. An original tintype should have the buttons reversed than what is seen here. It could be GA. I do not recognize a chair like that in any I've seen. The original may have been taken elsewhere in the South and brought back home.
 
My guess is that the original had the buttons gilded by the photographer. The color isn't there, so I agree that this is a copy. Having said that, this doesn't mean that the image is not a period piece. If it was an ambrotype or ferrotype (tintype) there would only have been one original without a negative. So additional prints could only have been made by photographing the original.
 
Yeah definitely don't do anything to damage it. :unsure: It may have a photographers back mark on it though. If it does you may be able to narrow down at least where it was taken and when (based on when that photographer was operating at that location.) Also, any unique features in the background or even props like that chair can sometimes be attributed to a specific photographer.

The image has a lot of contrast to it. Dark parts are very dark. Can you tell if any of that hand painted onto the image or is it all a result of the photography process?
There is about zero chance that the tintype would have a photographer's back mark. The card carrier of CDV's often were marked with the photographer's name, or the name of the studio (or both), but tintypes did not have this feature. Unless a white paint would be used, how would one see the writing on the dark shellac covering the iron plate? The only way I have seen the name of the sitter is when a person took a sharp nail or knife point and scratched the letters into the shellac, or onto the dark oxidized iron plate.
 
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