Quarter plate tintype. Housed in nearly mint full thermoplastic case with a festive design.

This excellent quarter-plate sized tintype of a Union soldier is more than meets the eye. He has all the trappings of the typical Yankee infantryman, including a smoothbore musket, but close examination of his belt buckle reveals an enterprising photographer's trick: this "buckle" was actually carved from wood so that the "US" would appear correctly to the viewer. As with most of this operator's examples, the backdrop is sparse save for a large American flag. This "magic buckle" affectation appears to be associated with one as yet unkown artist who worked in the Philadelphia area during the earlier years of the Civil War. The image is in nearly flawless condition, with top shelf clarity and contrast. It is housed in a nearly mint full thermoplastic case that features a festive design.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Early Photography, Cased Images, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Union Cases]