Tintypes, Ferrotypes Part Two – how to spot fakes, hopefully.

Most “fakes” are simply honest photographs of reenactors made as a souvenir of a gathering.  The fake part is misrepresentation of age and additional enhancement by placing the photo in a Civil War period case or sticking an original period revenue stamp on the back.

The lowest grade of fake is simply a copied image printed on a computer printer, glued down on a tintype and then lacquered.  These are easy to spot, due to the fact that the thick edge of the paper will be easy to spot and be felt.  This kind of fake is generally used on CDVs, but it does occur on occasion with tintypes.

Poorest type of fake.
Just a piece of thick paper with a laser printed image!
This was sold on eBay.

More sophisticated fakes are made by making a 35 mm slide of an original photo and then via a photographic enlarger exposing the blank tintype with the old image, transferring a unique image onto the plate.  The giveaway is that the image is no longer unique and probably gleaned from a website, eBay, or other photos, or even a book.  Also original processed tintypes will be slightly vignetted and the image will not run right to the edge.

Of course, recasing is another typical way to increase value.  Some dealers may take a good, original photo and place it into a rarer type case to increase the value of both.  Detecting that deceit is much more difficult to prove. Cases can hide clues to a fake as well.  Keep an eye out for modern reproductions of CW period cases.  They can be paired with an original image also.  Just as a note, most tintypes are caseless or have a paper frame, since the cost of a thermoplastic case was generally more expensive than the cost of the tintype when it was new.

An Original Civil War era thermoplastic case

Get familiar with what age and patina on an original tintype might have.  I have seen the gamut from absolutely pristine to bent, worn, emulsion damage, and even rust on both originals and fakes.  Some people paid extra to have brass buttons painted in, blushes added and even backgrounds washed in and uniforms tinted as well.  These areas may often have a raised feeling when touched, although a light wash might not be raised enough to feel.

There are many good dealers and a number of good, modern photographers who are honest and forthright.  Keep an eye out for modern marks and stamps of a contemporary maker.  If you buy, always deal with a known seller of authentic photos who has a verifiable reputation if you want to buy an expensive photo.  There are many good deals out there at flea markets, garage sales and in junk shops, but let your knowledge steer you clear of items that are too good to be true:  tintypes with images of Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, confederate soldier with dagger, pistol, flag and motto.

Also take into consideration that there were people making tintypes from the late 1850's upuntil well into the 1930's and a few even later.

A circa 1910 swimsuit tintype
with an old fashioned paper frame.

A tintype cameraman in San Antonio, Texas,
Photo by Russell Lee, March, 1939

Use the internet as your tool for research.  There are a number of forums and blogs that talk about original vs fake photography as well as those photographers who make modern photos using 19th century technology who are happy to share their wisdom.  Seek them out.

Here are a few web resources dealing with antique photography.
Photo-sleuth
The Daguerreian Society

Tintypes, Ferrotypes, and Fakes, Oh My!

Tintypes, Ferrotypes, and Fakes, Oh My!

Tintypes, ferrotypes, whatever you call them can be worth just a few bucks to tens of thousands of dollars.  On 25 June 2011, the original Billy the Kid tintype photo goes t auction, with an estimated sale of $300,000 to $400,000.

William H. Bonney

Tintypes, as they are commonly, and erroneously known, are sheet iron painted black with a photo on them.  The process involves putting a wet photo sensitive emulsion on the plate and them exposing them in a camera to get the image.

Previously tintypes were very commonly made from the late 1850s all the way to the end of the century and even a few decades beyond, depending on location and situation.  By the 1980s less than a dozen hobbyists and experimenters were making tintypes.  Around this time tintypes became collectible.

What’s a tintype worth?  It depends.  They are collected by subject, by size, by era and by the beauty or rarity of the image.  Presently Civil War images are the most collected although not necessarily the most expensive.  A cased image of an unknown Union infantry trooper with no weapons or attribution might fetch between $100 to $150 depending on the type of case and the condition of the image.

An original Tintype Civil war era ¼ plate image
Note the Photographic equipment on the lower left side of the image

Correspondingly, an image of a soldier with a plethora of brandished weapons, or a confederate image, or a non-standard armed soldier with a bowie could top $1000 in the recent past.  Remember it’s about supply and demand.  The number of Civil War images is limited and demand is up.  In come the fakers and destroy history and defraud buyers.

An original Tintype Civil war era  image
Note the shot gun and the D guard bowie knife

An original Tintype Civil war era image?
Note the model 1849 Colt Pocket gun and side knife and rare neckerchief.
But there are a couple of other things in this image that seem to be wrong.
can you spot them?

In the 1980s few stalwart hobbyist and reenactors made period style tintypes as portraits of other reenactors, no intent to make fakes.  One of those early photographers is Wendell R. Decker, who takes every pain to ensure that his recreations will not be taken as historical photos or worse at the hands of unscrupulous dealers, who might sell a reproduction as original Civil War era photography.

A very recent image by Mr.Decker
of Misters Tyler Gibson &  Rocky Kilpatrick ,
Reenactors

Crooked dealers and now crooked photographers are working together to defraud buyers with faked tintypes that are either reprints of original photos or new, original photos set up to fool a collector.  Wendell Decker uses Japanned sheet aluminum on his photos, something that had never been used previously to thwart fakers and crooked dealers.  “You see”, says Decker, “a magnet will stick to an original tintype, but not on one of mine”.   He also marks the back of his images.

Mr.Decker uses aluminum sheet for his tintypes
and boldly signs them on the back,
so as to readily identify them as modern.

Decker is determined to keep fakers from using honestly made reproductions like his from ending up on EBay or in the hands of crooked dealers being sold as original Civil War.  We need more photographers like Decker.  He was one of those original less than a dozen reenactor photographers I told you about.  Now there are hundreds of photographers making tintypes, most all of which are honest and there are tens of thousands of dealers, most of which are honest, but unless you get acquainted with tintypes and buckle down with first-hand knowledge, you just might get taken.

Wendell R. Decker's
assistant Suzy Chambers McGill

Now this is an image that even tough there were originals
similar to this they are extremely rare and on today's market
could fetch high prices at auction. This is why it is crucial
to be able to identify original from modern images.

See Part Two – how to spot fakes, hopefully. Coming soon!

The Guennol Lioness Sculpture, A Masterpiece in Miniature.

This is a very famous and stone sculpture called the Guennol Lioness.  It’s also one of the world’s most expensive figures, Having sold for $57.2 million and it standing a whopping 3 ¼ inches tall.  Made of crystalline limestone, it is a tribute to the unknown master’s hand that created this diminutive tour de force. 

It was carved about 5,000 years ago in the  Proto-Elamite, Chalcolithic era, giving lie to the belief that earlier cultures were not as advanced aesthetically or artistically as modern people.  It was found in the middle 1930s in southwest Persia (now Iran) and sold to a private collector and displayed in the Guennol Collection, which was exhibited in various museums.  The lionesses’ powerful lines come through despite the small size, giving us a feeling that this anthropometric creature was imbued with great power.
 

The statue came to my attention several years back when it was put up for auction and new photos were made and released to the public.  Previously, there were only grainy pictures in archeological texts, now we can enjoy the figure’s magnificent lines in crisp, new photos and wonder in the power of an ancient stone carver’s art.

Sorry, but this can not be currently viewed at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs,MS
This little treasure was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2007 to an undisclosed buyer.

1850s-1860s BRASS BLACKOUT LANTERN at South Coast Antiques & Gallery, Ocean Springs, MS-SOLD

This is a fully functional and complete 1850s-1860s pre-kerosene camphene or burning fluid, dark lantern with all the features intact.  This dark lamp has a triple curtain closure that allows a single or double (reverse) spot or a complete blackout while lit.  Unlike later dark lamps, the curtain cannot be fully dropped.  The thick glass chimney has a ground upper edge and the reservoir is large-capacity made of glass with a polished pontil.  The construction of the lamp indicates it's age, as the burner sets on top of the glass reservoir and is an early pre-kerosene, non-adjustable dead flame wick type used for burning camphene. Before kerosene and coal oil, camphene was very popular from the 1840s through the Civil War, being cheaper than whale oil. 

The top of the lamp opens with a twist, revealing the chimney. The bottom of the lamp has a quick removal feature allowing for quick wick lighting and trimming.  Lamps of this nature have the function of illuminating a specific area in front and behind simultaneously or keep a single beam before the holder.  The blackout function was popular with people who did not want to be seen at night such as smugglers, grave robbers, police and thugs.  Less colorfully, they were also used in taverns, aboard ships and in stables. 

This is the finest blackout lantern I have ever had for sale and the condition is absolutely superb and complete as most of these lamps were converted to cheaper kerosene in the mid 1860s 

Sylvester Magee Last American Slave and Last Union Veteran's Autograph

Yesterday the world’s oldest living man died.  He was Walter Breuning born 21 Sept 1896 and he was 114.  But I want to talk about a man who was even older and covered more territory.

This man’s name was Sylvester Magee and he was born in 1841 and died in 1971.  Yes that right, he was 130 years old.  Born a slave and worked on a plantation in Mississippi, he escaped to freedom and joined the Union army, in 1863. Although he had no documentation of his war service, he was admitted to the VA hospital in Jackson in 1966 for pneumonia and later discharged.

Records in the probate division of the Chancery Court in Covington County, Mississippi, dated February 1859, show Magee and his father, Ephriam were owned by slave-owner Hugh Magee. Magee insists May 29, 1841, was his birth date and that he was sold to Hugh Magee’s father who died in 1859. Magee said he obtained freedom after the fall of Vicksburg and served with Union troops.

He wasn’t totally forgotten; President Lyndon Johnson sent him special greetings for his 124th birthday in 1965.   He remained obscure until an article Jet Magazine, 11 May, 1967 was published and then Time Magazine, wrote an article about him and other long-lived individuals in their Friday, Jul. 14, 1967 issue. 

I recently acquired Sylvester Magee’s autograph along with a cover letter from his friend and lawyer.  The second sheet was an affidavit, signed and sealed that the enclosed was indeed, Mr Magee’s signature.  There it was in red ink as bold and clear as you could ask.  A fine red X.  Yes, Sylvester Magee was illiterate but clear of mind.  His mind was so clear that the VA admitted him as a Union veteran and the VA representative was astounded as to the clarity of his memory of the Civil War.

Normally I wouldn’t trust an inscribed X on a document, but this one was written just before Mr Magee became famous and came with impeccable documentation.  The title of World’s Oldest man is passed from one to another, never held for long and the holder always passes it on to the next.

Magee held several titles simultaneously:  Worlds Oldest Man, Oldest Union Veteran, and Oldest Living Ex-Slave   One additional oldest might possibly be Oldest Confederate Veteran.  He had been a Confederate conscript according to the book Black Confederates by Barrow, Segars and Rosenburg, published in 2001.

Sylvester Magee passed away in 15 October 1971 and his obituary was carried in local newspapers as well as Jet Magazine, 11 May 1971.

Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Fort Sumter at South Coast Antiques.

Today is the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter, so I decided to do a post with a bit of historical information not available anywhere else.  Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens was governor of South Carolina from 1860 to 1862.  He presided over the secession of South Carolina and it's admission to the Confederate States of America.

Governor Pickens authorized the firing on Fort Sumter by SC militia, which is well known as the start of the Civil War, but he also authorized the first shot fired in the civil war when he sanctioned state militia artillery to fire on the Union vessel Star of the West 9 January, 1861 during its attempt to bring supplies to Major Anderson's blockaded garrison at Fort Sumter.  His wife, Lucy Pickens witnessed the bombardment of Fort Sumter from atop a home in Charleston.

Governor Pickens was a life-long politician and diplomat.  He was Minister to England, a state representative several times and later a state senator.  Under President James Buchannan, he served as minister to Russia from 1858 to 1860 where they became close friends with Czar Alexander II, who was the godfather of their child.    Finally he was Governor of South Carolina during secession and the early part of the Civil War.

His wife, Lucy Pickens was a master socialite of the 19th century, captivating everybody, even the Czar of Russia.  She was so well known in South Carolina and through America, her face appears on the South Carolina Confederate $100 dollar bill as well as a CSA $1,000 bond.  She was the consummate southern bell and captivated everybody with her intelligence and charm.

This letter was written by Governor Pickens, with an official State of South Carolina letterhead frank to his wife on 4 July 1861.  The letter is short and terse, very unlike typical communications of Victorian couples.  I can only expect that Gov Pickens was distraught and upset.  Perhaps she was in an area of the coast that was threatened by Union invasion and he feared her capture.
We have this letter for view here at South Coast Antiques and Gallery.

Both Francis Pickens and Lucy  Pickens are interred at Willow Brook Cemetery, Edgefield, Edgefield County South Carolina, USA.  Visit their grave sites by clicking on the links.

* Update 28 July 2015 *

A reader recently asked a question about the Lucy Pickens letter and it got me reexamining the envelope, which had previously eluded deciphering despite my familiarity with mid-19^th century documents.  So, reinvigorated I went online and pulled up a few other letters written by Gov Pickens from the exact period for comparison and found that he had used runners to deliver letters in some cases. 

On the envelope, I could read “Xxxxfield” which did not match anything I could think of at the time of the first post back in 2011.  But, now I also realized that although his estate was called Edgewood, it was just outside of the town of Edgefield, in the county of Edgefield, where he built his mansion in 1829.  So relooking at “Xxxxfield”, I then understood it was the small town Edgefield, the population of which in 1860 was only 518.  His large estate and mansion was just outside of town and known by everybody in town, cleared up any uncertainty as to destination. 

Next up was some additional instructions written in the lower left hand part of the envelope.  I decided to use some comparisons of other Pickens letters in hopes of at least getting a feeling for his handwriting by sampling.  By pulling up a contemporary letter sent by Gov Pickens to General Beauregard, which was also hand-delivered, it indicated, “By Mr. Green” which meant that this Mr. Green would take it to the general.  It wasn’t a destination, it was a delivery instruction. 

Now since that I knew the letter to Lucy Pickens had to travel a good distance and not by mail.  Scouring period railroad maps, I found no railroads ran by Edgefield from Columbia, a distance of 57 miles, nor were there any convenient rivers that would give an easy steamboat trip, so any travel would have to be by road. 

I then understood the marking read, “By next boy” with a flourish at the end, just like the Gen Beauregard letter.  This letter would have to be hand carried also, by coach or by rider over a long road.  This letter had no stamps and no cancellation, not even a frank marking, which is another reason why I think it was carried by courier – “By next boy”, e.g. by the next runner to Edgefield.

 ------------------------------------------------

                               

                              Mrs F. ??. Pickens

                               Edgefield 

   By next Boy

-----------------------------------------------

Now at least some of the mystery has cleared away, although why Gov Pickens was so abrupt may never be known.  The letter was dated the morning 4^th of July 1862 so I wonder of Lucy was supposed to attend a party that night in Columbia.  If so, she probably didn’t make it.  What a shame, Lucy Pickens was one of the great luminaries of the south and her attendance at a party would have made it sparkle. 

Now don’t think that the Confederates didn’t venerate the Founding Fathers, they did.  In fact, the first few years of The United States of America, the United States was unified and operated under the Articles of Confederation.   Eventually the Articles were replaced and the new US Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788.   Yes, the USA was a confederacy originally and yes, they broke away from “the rightful government of Britain”.  So the government and states of the CSA had every reason to observe celebrate the original American Revolution.  But that’s another story for another time.

I’d like to thank the reader for reminding me of unfinished business with the Lucy Pickens letter as it led me to reread and rediscover its destination.  Sometimes a little time must pass for the dust to settle and the handwriting becomes clearer. 

Historical reenactment , the whole "hardcore vs farb" debate

There are people out there who wear out dated clothes, they don obsolete even antique uniforms or fashion to recreate earlier times.  They spend a great deal of time trying to be accurate, getting the right accessories and to have the right "persona" for their "impression".  Historical reenactment can recreate the middle ages, the renaissance as well as the Victorian era and the American Civil War.  It covers many ages and many countries, but it always has an interest and reverence for the past.

Sometimes squabbles break out as to who is more correct to the era and egos can be inflated or bruised by a few comments.  Each and every reenactor spends time and money to make their impression as good as they can.  Sometimes even reeneactors lose touch with what they are doing.  I recently turned up a comment on line that really brought home what it is truly all about:

Cody Allen Dillman made this really excellent comment on Facebook Yesterday.
My 2 cents on the whole "hardcore vs farb*" debate, I imagine a group of Civil War veterans coming to a modern reenactment. They wouldn't go "This stitch is wrong" or "You're using the wrong cut jacket". They would come up with tears in their old weary eyes saying "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Thank you for remembering us and what we did." Feel free to disagree.

That my friend, sums it up as far as I am concerned.  Reenactment is a way to honor and remember the past.


*farb is a term of derision about less-than-correct or slipshod costumes, equipment or deportment in an impression.  It gets tossed around a lot.