4thMichigan
Private
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
Years ago, when I was seriously collecting Civil War hard images, I found myself in an extremely exciting, and then terribly tragic experience. I had attended a Civil War collector's show in Ohio and became the lucky owner of the sixth plate ambrotype on the right. As you can see, there were many reasons that it appealed to me. Its condition was pristine, and the quality of the photographer's work was just about perfect. The backdrop was exceptional and very artistic, unlike most others that I had seen. The artist's detail in the tree's foliage that had been put on canvas almost stole from the military presence of the young soldier whose "likeness" was being taken. And as for the young Union soldier, he was a perfect example of a youth who seemed to be realizing the consequences of enlisting in a war which was meant truly for men. I say that he was not quite a man yet and probably 15-17 years old, as upon examination, you could easily see the acne on his chin and cheeks. The only flaw of the photographer's work that day, was that he had positioned the young man improperly under his studio's skylight which resulted in the shadowing of almost half of the facial features of the young man. In spite of that minor detail, I was still very pleased and honored to have added the photo to my collection, especially as it had once been a "favorite" in the collection of a fellow image collector for several years.
Within a year of my acquisition, much to my amazement, I found the sixth plate ambrotype of the exact same soldier posted for sale on Ebay. There was no doubt in my mind that I had to reunite the two images by being the high bidder at the end of the auction. It was a very brutal CW images market back then and very competitive. However, after paying a fairly hefty price, I did end up becoming it's new owner. Now I need to point out, that when I purchased the ambrotype on the left on Ebay, there absolutely no cracks in the photo, or I probably wouldn't have bid on it (I'm like that about images). As you can clearly see, the photographer had the soldier remain in the same position as he did in the first image. You'll notice that the young soldier must have gotten impatient and moved his hands a little before the second image was taken. While a few of the overcoat's wrinkles were smoothed out, the majority of them are in place from the previous take. But the photographer's corrective measure in position the sitter under better lighting in order to illuminate his full face was ultimately successful.
So now about the cracks. The Ebay seller was actually a coin dealer from the northeastern states and told me that the photograph was a "trunk in the attic" find out that way. My image was purchased from a midwestern area collector / dealer, which only added to the mystery of the separation of these two ambrotypes somewhere in time. Anyways, the Ebay seller wrapped up the ambrotype in a layer or two of bubble wrap, put them in a box that was originally used for a pair of women's gloves, and then enclosed that in a bubble mailer. And that was how it was shipped to me. Upon receiving the package and then anxiously opening the bubble wrapped glove box, I found that the image had been cracked sometime in its mailing. It doesn't take much imagination to guess how I felt at the time. Sad isn't a strong enough word to convey what I felt. Add frustration and some anger, and you're getting close. Reuniting those two images that were taken about 150 years prior (at the time of my purchase), was supposed to have a completely different response on my part. And what troubled me the most, was that it was simply because someone cut some corners to save a little expense and time, rather than making sure that the image remained safe for future collectors and historians.
So, here's my question for those of you...How many of you have had a similar experience with photographs? This was a rather rare occurrence, where two separate but similar images of the same soldier which were taken only minutes apart about 150 years ago, were reunited with hundreds of miles between them. Finding a duplicate image of your cdv or albumen photograph is a different coincidence and one that would be more common than this case. I'm just wondering....what are the odds?
Within a year of my acquisition, much to my amazement, I found the sixth plate ambrotype of the exact same soldier posted for sale on Ebay. There was no doubt in my mind that I had to reunite the two images by being the high bidder at the end of the auction. It was a very brutal CW images market back then and very competitive. However, after paying a fairly hefty price, I did end up becoming it's new owner. Now I need to point out, that when I purchased the ambrotype on the left on Ebay, there absolutely no cracks in the photo, or I probably wouldn't have bid on it (I'm like that about images). As you can clearly see, the photographer had the soldier remain in the same position as he did in the first image. You'll notice that the young soldier must have gotten impatient and moved his hands a little before the second image was taken. While a few of the overcoat's wrinkles were smoothed out, the majority of them are in place from the previous take. But the photographer's corrective measure in position the sitter under better lighting in order to illuminate his full face was ultimately successful.
So now about the cracks. The Ebay seller was actually a coin dealer from the northeastern states and told me that the photograph was a "trunk in the attic" find out that way. My image was purchased from a midwestern area collector / dealer, which only added to the mystery of the separation of these two ambrotypes somewhere in time. Anyways, the Ebay seller wrapped up the ambrotype in a layer or two of bubble wrap, put them in a box that was originally used for a pair of women's gloves, and then enclosed that in a bubble mailer. And that was how it was shipped to me. Upon receiving the package and then anxiously opening the bubble wrapped glove box, I found that the image had been cracked sometime in its mailing. It doesn't take much imagination to guess how I felt at the time. Sad isn't a strong enough word to convey what I felt. Add frustration and some anger, and you're getting close. Reuniting those two images that were taken about 150 years prior (at the time of my purchase), was supposed to have a completely different response on my part. And what troubled me the most, was that it was simply because someone cut some corners to save a little expense and time, rather than making sure that the image remained safe for future collectors and historians.
So, here's my question for those of you...How many of you have had a similar experience with photographs? This was a rather rare occurrence, where two separate but similar images of the same soldier which were taken only minutes apart about 150 years ago, were reunited with hundreds of miles between them. Finding a duplicate image of your cdv or albumen photograph is a different coincidence and one that would be more common than this case. I'm just wondering....what are the odds?
Bringing the