Large half plate ambrotype, housed in a half leatherette case, likely struck by a Virginia photographer in the mid to late 1850s. Details of Washington’s tomb are crystal clear; the artist added some subtle red tint to emphasize the tomb’s brick construction. In the foreground is a group of twelve subjects in fine attire.

A typed note that accompanies the image identifies one of the men (probably second from the viewer's left) as being abolitionist publisher and orator William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879), and indeed, there does seem to be a resemblance between Garrison and the subject. However, given the absence of further context or supporting evidence, the credibility of the tag is uncertain.


[Revolutionary War, Colonial America, Manuscripts, Ephemera, Documents, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Society of the Cincinnati, Militaria]