Stumbled across a certain general today

[E_just_E]

Tintype (sorry for the unclear but tintypes do not like to be shot head on through a display case) in a union case:

This is the negative of the following image by Michael Miley that has been around a while:

Expired Image Removed

Might actually go after that one...

 

[civilwarincolor]

Tintype (sorry for the unclear but tintypes do not like to be shot head on through a display case) in a union case:

This is the negative of the following image by Michael Miley that has been around a while:

Expired Image Removed

Might actually go after that one...

This is actually not a negative (which would mean that the black and white areas would be reversed) but appears to be a Tintype copy print of Miley's print. Doing this would have made Lee and the horse face the opposite direction. While it was not uncommon for them to make copy negatives, this is the first that I have seen use of a Tintype to do it.

Making a copy negative was done during the period to allow additional prints to be made of a popular image. It also helped to keep the original negative from wearing out since it had to physically be used for each print by the process of the day.

What makes this unusual though is that a Tintype is a positive image, but one that cannot itself be mass printed, so this would have been the only tintype copy (unless the photographer wanted to take additional photographs of the original image). Since the tintype did not allow for duplication it was generally used for personal images such as family keepsakes, etc. For an individual such as Lee you would expect that the image would have been taken with a glass plate to allow mass production and sales rather than just the one time sale that would be made with a tintype.

I wonder if this was an amateur photographer that had a tintype camera and decided to make a personal copy of the image.

Very interesting.

Best of luck!

 

[E_just_E]

This is actually not a negative (which would mean that the black and white areas would be reversed) but appears to be a Tintype copy print of Miley's print. Doing this would have made Lee and the horse face the opposite direction. While it was not uncommon for them to make copy negatives, this is the first that I have seen use of a Tintype to do it.

Making a copy negative was done during the period to allow additional prints to be made of a popular image. It also helped to keep the original negative from wearing out since it had to physically be used for each print by the process of the day.

What makes this unusual though is that a Tintype is a positive image, but one that cannot itself be mass printed, so this would have been the only tintype copy (unless the photographer wanted to take additional photographs of the original image). Since the tintype did not allow for duplication it was generally used for personal images such as family keepsakes, etc. For an individual such as Lee you would expect that the image would have been taken with a glass plate to allow mass production and sales rather than just the one time sale that would be made with a tintype.

I wonder if this was an amateur photographer that had a tintype camera and decided to make a personal copy of the image.

Very interesting.

Best of luck!

Mirror image. Sorry. That is why I found it intriguing. The original photo was taken by Miley in 1865 after the war and I have seen a whole bunch of albumin copies (horse always facing right.) This is an exact mirror image on tintype in a 3.5 by 2.5 or so Union case. I'd love to see whether there are any markings on the back side, but I suspect that they will not let me open it up It is a real clear image (but of course you got to look at those at an angle) which makes me think that it was made by someone who knew what he/she was doing. Definitely a curiosity...

 

[civilwarincolor]

Mirror image. Sorry. That is why I found it intriguing. The original photo was taken by Miley in 1865 after the war and I have seen a whole bunch of albumin copies (horse always facing right.) This is an exact mirror image on tintype in a 3.5 by 2.5 or so Union case. I'd love to see whether there are any markings on the back side, but I suspect that they will not let me open it up It is a real clear image (but of course you got to look at those at an angle) which makes me think that it was made by someone who knew what he/she was doing. Definitely a curiosity...

Just curious what are they asking. If you prefer not to say, I understand. I am assuming though that they know this is an image of Lee and are placing a premium on it.

I am asking because I am curious how they are valuing this. It is a known image, but not in the usual presentation.

 

[E_just_E]

Just curious what are they asking. If you prefer not to say, I understand. I am assuming though that they know this is an image of Lee and are placing a premium on it.

I am asking because I am curious how they are valuing this. It is a known image, but not in the usual presentation.

They are not asking. It is up for auction at a local auction place. It is a silent auction and it ends 2 weeks from today. This morning the highest bid was at a very reasonable $90.