Outstanding and unique mounted photograph of a monument to Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. The mount has been inscribed in ink as follows:

“Gen. J.E.B. Stuart monument completion/Richmond VA/To my friend Tyler McWhorter/F.E. Triebel, Sculptor.”

Frederick Ernest "Fritz" Triebel (December 29, 1865 – 1944 ) was an American sculptor. He was born in Peoria, Illinois, where his father was a monument maker. Taking inspiration from him, the young Triebel was apprenticed to a stone carver in Chicago. He took to the work and several years later won a scholarship to attend the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. His career as a sculptor flourished afterwards, and he produced many fine works, several of which were commissioned for public spaces. As the demand for Civil War tribute monuments grew in the later 19th century, Triebel found near constant work.

This particular photograph depicts this work. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart needs no introduction as one of the pantheon of legendary Confederate military leaders. In his work, Treibel captures the General in an animated, fierce pose, drawing his sword atop a galloping horse. Fascinatingly, this appears to be a sample sculpture, possibly submitted for consideration in a contest held in 1903 which asked sculptors to submit concepts for a new Stuart monument on Monument Avenue. Unfortunately for Treibel, a design submitted by New York’s Frederick Moynihgan was ultimately chosen. Still, Treibel’s great skill is clearly on display in the model shown in this photograph.

There is some wear to the mount, most of which does not impact the photo itself. A rare and important slice of Richmond history.


[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, U.S Grant, Abraham Lincoln] [Antique Photography, Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, Albumen, carte-de-visite, CDV, Tintype] [Civil War, Union, Confederate, Ulysses S. Grant, US Grant, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln]