Celia bought this striking daugurreotype for me a few weeks ago at Prozo's auction house in Rutland, Vermont. This image, and others which will appear sometime on my blog, came from an estate sale in upstate New York, so it possible this image was taken in or around New York City, during the 1850s. The two older young gentleman are wearing high or "stand-up" collars which were popular during the 1840s and the subsequent decade, though I must say they look pretty uncomfortable! Even though they are staring hard towards the camera, there is a sense of closeness and camraderie here; the young man on the right has his right arm behind the young boy and the boy has placed his right on the leg of what was probably his oldest brother. Perhaps what is most remarkable about this historical image is what was revealed when I took the dag out of its case to clean it. Scrawled in pencil in a shaky nineteenth century hand is the following inscription: "Allen, 13 Feb 10, 1854, Sam, 19, 1854, John, 22, 1854." We are very fortunate to know what these young men's names were and probably when this priceless photo was created! As with all the other images I have posted, please click on any of them for a closer look!
2 comments:
I think that 2 brothers--if they are all brothers--look a lot alike (the middle & right). I also think that they appear to be Native American. Obviously, they have adapted to the mainstream culture by choosing these uncomfortable clothes and also by the names mentioned. I wonder what the occasion was for this picture?
Could they be Canadian Native Americans since the picture is from upstate NY?
Gret Phot Chirs, Ceci made a great find when she got this one.
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