C. 1880 tintype of a young Native American boy dressed like his elders in full feather headdress and bone breastplate. The photograph’s strong resemblance to other known portraits suggests the subject was part of a traveling “Wild West Show,” which often represented Native Americans in a sensationalist and exploitative manner. These vaudeville performances romanticized the American West and were popular ~1870 to ~1910.

It has been suggested the subject may in fact be “Willie Spotted Horse,” whose famous portrait by Gertrude Käsebier (1852-1934) is often reproduced, but that has not been confirmed.

[Comanche, Native American, Indian] [19th Century Photography, Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, Tintype, CDV, carte-de-visite, albumen, cabinet card]