Sixth plate daguerreotype. Leatherette case. Anonymous artist.

Scarce Confederate soldier daguerreotype featuring a double-armed infantryman. Only a handful of Confederate images exist in the daguerrotype format. A copy of this portrait was enlarged and displayed in Herb Peck’s office.

Largely obsolete by the start of the Civil War, the daguerreotype process was replaced by less expensive, more easily produced formats like the ambrotype and the tintype during the late 1850s. But some photographers persisted with daguerreotypes, or perhaps simply worked through their stock as a matter of frugality, and several wartime examples survive.

This particular plate is sharp and clear, with the superior detail associated with daguerreotypes. The young rebel fixes his gaze off-camera, posed at a dramatic angle. He looks every bit the warrior, with one hand on his musket and the other hand holding a knife. His jacket appears to be woven from a rough material and features a pair of button-closed pockets on the chest.

Little is known about which southern artists were still producing daguerrotypes during the Civil War, but this particular photographer was clearly skilled. This image is a superlative example of a transitional period, both for the nation as well as the photographic process.








[Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, Tintype, Carte-de-visite, CDV, Albumen, Mexican War, Mexican American War, Civil War, Slavery, Abolitionist, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Early Photography]

Provenance: Herb Peck assembled one of the first and greatest collections of historic American photography before it was stolen in 1978 from his Nashville home. Once thought lost forever, authorities recently traced an unexpected clue and discovered many of Herb’s images unscathed after nearly 45 years in hiding. These daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes comprise one of the most important collections of Civil War portrait photography ever curated. Herb Peck was a true pioneer who understood both the historic and artistic merit of portraits showing the common Civil War soldier at a time when they were often overlooked. These photographs are deeply important to our shared American history, and Fleischer's Auctions is proud to make them publicly available on behalf of the Peck family.

As represented. For a full condition report, please email us.