Old Mathew Brady Photograph Portrait - Anyone recognize the Subject?

[Bramblefind]

My sister got this photo in a box at an auction and we are hoping to ID the subject. I read that part of Brady's business was photographing important people of the time and then selling copies of the photos to the public. So there is a chance this could be someone well known at the time.

Or of course it could just be a photo of someone who chose to be photographed by Brady.

Thanks for any ideas

 

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[0121stockpicker]

My sister got this photo in a box at an auction and we are hoping to ID the subject. I read that part of Brady's business was photographing important people of the time and then selling copies of the photos to the public. So there is a chance this could be someone well known at the time.

Or of course it could just be a photo of someone who chose to be photographed by Brady.

Thanks for any ideas

Contact Cowen auction house. They are THE experts on civil war era photography. They can prob identify and give you estimate of value (and sell it for you if you want). This is one of the guys on history detectives on PBS. If you do contact them, please let us know what they have to say. Some Brady photos can go for big bucks.

 

[Bramblefind]

Contact Cowen auction house. They are THE experts on civil war era photography. They can prob identify and give you estimate of value (and sell it for you if you want). This is one of the guys on history detectives on PBS. If you do contact them, please let us know what they have to say. Some Brady photos can go for big bucks.

Thanks for the info I will pass that along to my sister and see what she wants to do.

 

[nhbenz]

My 2 cent observations note that it's either the same chair or one of the same set that Lincoln was photographed in several times, and I read that there was some uncertainty as to weather the chairs went to the studio or wether they reside at the white house. But there's smart people working on that part. I did note that it tended to be notable figures that were photographed in these chairs (possibly at the white house). Commoners were often in a different chair, and the photos I saw labeled as "gentleman" (subject unknown) often had books on the table beside them, I guess to show that they were learned folks, a prop apparently not necessary for the likes of politicians, generals, etc.
Well, I'll be interested to hear what you can find out. I think the previous recommendation is a very good one. It seems like if we don't recognize him right off the bat, then Brady wouldn't have made many of that photo, making it rather rare.

 

[cw0909]

check here
The Brady-Handy Collection. After Mathew Brady's death on January 15, 1896, his remaining photography files became the property of Levin C. Handy.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=mathew%20brady%20photograph%20collection&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CDYQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Frr%2Fprint%2Fcoll%2F222_bradyhandy.html&ei=L0hFUNLcGIXE2gWIrIDQDA&usg=AFQjCNH6LUunP7c-IAMyraNk_-IBIrChXQ

Mathew Brady Civil War Photographs
Collection: Mathew Brady Civil War Photographs

 

[Breezie]

Bramble, I don't have any info to add, but wanted to subscribe to this post. Neat find, Breezie

 

[Bramblefind]

Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions and interest in this photo I linked my sister up with this thread and she is very appreciative of the comments.

nhbenz- that is a fascinating observation about the chair!

cw - thanks so much for those photo links! I have gone through about 2000 of them so far.

Thanks Breezie

The only person I thought was a possibility so far is the abolitionist preacher Henry Ward Beecher. I see some similarities but I decided it wasn't him. But then today I received an email from my mother that she was also looking through the photos (I sent her a link to this thread too) and she also (I didn't tell her my thoughts on him) thought Henry Ward Beecher has potential to be a match. I'm still very much on the fence. Here are some Google images of him:

https://www.google.com/search?num=1....0.0.79.693.11.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.iGmxv3avCW8

 

[aquachigger]

Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions and interest in this photo I linked my sister up with this thread and she is very appreciative of the comments.

nhbenz- that is a fascinating observation about the chair!

cw - thanks so much for those photo links! I have gone through about 2000 of them so far.

Thanks Breezie

The only person I thought was a possibility so far is the abolitionist preacher Henry Ward Beecher. I see some similarities but I decided it wasn't him. But then today I received an email from my mother that she was also looking through the photos (I sent her a link to this thread too) and she also (I didn't tell her my thoughts on him) thought Henry Ward Beecher has potential to be a match. I'm still very much on the fence. Here are some Google images of him:

https://www.google.com/search?num=1....0.0.79.693.11.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.iGmxv3avCW8

Your guy looks like he is balding. All of HWB's photos, even as on older man, show him with a full head of hair. Just a thought...

 

[Breezie]

Your guy looks like he is balding. All of HWB's photos, even as on older man, show him with a full head of hair. Just a thought...

Bramble, Your guy has natural curly hair. HWB looks to have basically straight hair except when there was some length on it, then it was wavy, not curly from the roots. I also see a difference in the top lip. The biggest difference I see is in the bone structure around the cheek/eye area. Hair, wrinkles, eyebrows, etc. can change over the years, but bone structure is always the same. Note the protrusion. I'm not saying it is not him, but making observations. Who's to say the photo was not touched-up, and all I have mentioned was a slip of the pen/brush? I hope you can find out who he is. Breezie

 

[nhbenz]

Uh-oh, I knew I should have started at the end of those photos and gone backward, as I've gone through 2,660 so far. But if anybody else searches those then maybe you could start around the 4,000 area, and let us know which way you're going.
Funny, I'd also looked at HBW, I think the split chin caught my attention... But I decided he didn't look German enough. Or maybe just not as powerful somehow.

 

[cw0909]

your man might be a Reverend

Bramble, i just noticed after looking at pgs 250 to 195.and pgs 1 to 30, that the man is wearing
the same type of suit/frock as a lot of the Reverends in the imgs,see jpg
maybe he is a Reverend,if he is not in the imgs,that might help narrow it down some,from other
sources

Rev. S. A. Clark of N.Y.
Rev. S. A. Clark of N.Y.

 

[hayfield47]

I checked photos of Congressional Chaplains but found no match.

 

[cw0909]

I checked photos of Congressional Chaplains but found no match.

cool,ive checked all 250pgs
Search Results: "" - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)

im on pg18 here
Mathew Brady Studio

a few albums on this pg i havent checked
Search Results: "chaplains " - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)

not sure about,maybe comb hair dif lose the specs
Reverend Father Charles Fulmar
Reverend Father Charles Fulmar

 

[diggummup]

Kind of resembles Father McNulty. This photo is dated between 1855-65 so it may be an earlier example than yours, hence all the hair?
Reverend Father McNulty



Closest i've found so far.

 

[diggummup]

Then you have this guy, same scenario- Reverend E. S. McKolson