I sell the Shadow to Support the Substance. Sojourner Truth CDV. Rochester, New York: N.B. Baker, n.d. Caption printed to mount recto, photographer/publisher's imprint to mount verso. Period ink initials are present to mount verso, possibly "MG".

An exceedingly scarce view of Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and suffragist. We have only found one other copy of this exact pose, held at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library (Image ID 5161081). Views taken of Truth in other poses are routinely offered; auction records suggest this may be the first time this particular variant has ever been made available for public acquisition.

Truth sits in a dark dress with a white cap and tasseled shawl draped around her shoulders. She is engaged in knitting, holding the project up with one hand while the other rests on her hip, her elbow projecting out defiantly. She sits upright in a large wood-framed upholstered chair featuring a carved grape motif. Her head is held straight and she looks directly at the camera. The pose is reminiscent of other, well-known views of Truth. However, there are several, significant differences (the chair, tablecloth, etc.) between those and this example, suggesting this portrait was captured in a completely different sitting.

[African Americana, African American History, Slavery, Abolition, Enslavement, Emancipation, Women's Suffrage, Civil Rights, Reconstruction, Early Photography, Albumen photography, CDV, Carte de Visite, Cartes de Visite, Cabinet Cards, Civil War, Women's History]