Sixth plate hand-gilt tintype. Leatherette case, split at hinge. Anonymous artist. Interior of case inscribed in pencil: "Wade [illegible] / Deputy Sheriff / Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 18[??]”

Compelling portrait of an identified(?) Native American man with chin-length hair who brandishes a knife. The subject’s overcoat is cinched with a fringed belt enhanced with small dots of color by the photographer or studio artist.

A pencil inscription in the case is partly illegible, but the name “Wade _” and phrases “Deputy Sheriff” and “Bartlesville, Oklahoma,” are discernible. Bartlesville, founded in the 1870s, is located in the vicinity of Tulsa. This portrait predates Bartlesville and even Oklahoma itself. Prior to becoming a state, the land within Oklahoma’s modern-day borders was known as Indian Territory and comprised the holdings of various nations, including Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole (among others). This tintype dates to the early-mid 1860s, when some 55,000 displaced Native Americans called the area home. The subject’s identity and tribal affiliation are unknown, but this important photograph puts a face to a time of the upheaval and suffering experienced by many Native Americans, who in the decades prior to the Civil War were forced westward.





[Native Americans, Indian Territory, Oklahoma, Law Enforcement, Police, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Cased Images, Hard Images, Union Cases, Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, Tintype, Carte de visite, Carte-de-visite, CDV, Albumen]

Provenance: Herb Peck assembled one of the first and greatest collections of historic American photography before it was stolen in 1978 from his Nashville home. Once thought lost forever, authorities recently traced an unexpected clue and discovered many of Herb’s images unscathed after nearly 45 years in hiding. These daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes comprise one of the most important collections of Civil War portrait photography ever curated. Herb Peck was a true pioneer who understood both the historic and artistic merit of portraits showing the common Civil War soldier at a time when they were often overlooked. These photographs are deeply important to our shared American history, and Fleischer's Auctions is proud to make them publicly available on behalf of the Peck family.

As represented. For a full condition report, please email us.