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Black Civil War officer

Black Civil War officer’s portrait tops $59K at Cowan’s  

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Black Civil War officer
CDV studio portrait of Maj. Martin Delany in military uniform, circa 1864. Sold for $59,375. Cowan’s image

CINCINNATI – For the second time in as many auctions, the Steve Turner Collection of African Americana once again surpassed its presale estimate at Cowan’s Auctions. The Dec. 3 auction featured the second and final part of one of the most remarkable collections of African Americana to come to market in recent years. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

It was not lost on bidders that this could be the last opportunity to own a piece of the collection, as evidenced by the $377,196 price realized which totaled more than $100,000 above the sale’s $269,350 presale estimate. When combined with the total of Part I, which was offered in February 2020, the collection sold for a combined total of $989,887.

The Road West: The Steve Turner Collection of African Americana illustrated the history of African Americans and their role in settling the western frontier in the 19th and early 20th century.

Black Civil War officer
Cabinet card studio portrait of an unidentified Buffalo Soldier sergeant of Company B, 24th Infantry, photographed by C.S. Fly, Tombstone, Arizona Territory, circa 1882. Sold for $9,375. Cowan’s image

“We were delighted to offer this important collection, and gratified by the response from both private and institutional collectors,” said Wes Cowan, Hindman vice chair and Cowan’s founder. “The ephemeral material in the Turner collection is important, direct evidence of the struggles and triumphs of African Americans in their post-Civil War march to full citizenship.”

Black Civil War officer
Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry camped at Chloride Creek in New Mexico, circa 1890. Sold for $9,375. Cowan’s image

Steve Turner is perhaps most widely known for his eponymous Los Angeles-based contemporary art gallery, but he has spent his entire life assembling an unrivaled historical record of the American West.

The highlight of Part II of the collection was a full-length carte-de-visite studio portrait photograph of Maj. Martin Delany (Lot 9). Delany is one of the more unheralded pioneers of American history. He was one of the first African Americans admitted to Harvard Medical School and led a distinguished medical career in addition to his abolitionist activities and journalistic pursuits. During the Civil War, he served as a surgeon in the famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteers and became the first African American to receive a regular army commission. Delany’s portrait sold for $59,375 against a presale estimate of $6,000-$8,000.

Black Civil War officer
Albumen photograph of Joe Clark his guide José, hunters with the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 that surveyed Yellowstone, Wyoming. Sold for $13,750. Cowan’s image

In addition to the Delany carte-de-visite, the photography category also saw the second-highest sale price of the day. An oversized albumen photograph of Joe Clark and a Mexican guide known only as José that was taken in Yellowstone, Wyoming in 1871 (Lot 102) sold for $13,750, more than triple its estimate. Clark and José were part of the famous Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 that explored and surveyed the area that would become Yellowstone National Park. The findings of this project directly led to the 1872 establishment of the park, the first of its kind in the United States.

Black Civil War officer
42-star 10th Cavalry guidon flag, circa 1889-1891. Sold for $10,000. Cowan’s image

Other notable lots from the auction included:

– Lot 28, a rare 10th Cavalry guidon, circa 1889 (est. $5,000-$7,000) sold for $10,000;
– Lot 125, an 1859 memoir of an African American hairdresser (est. $3,000-$4,000) sold for $10,000;
– Lot 7, a carte-de-visite portrait of an identified African American soldier in the 108th United States Colored Infantry, circa 1863 (est. $3,000-$5,000) sold for $9,375;
– Lot 34, a small boudoir card photograph of a 10th Cavalry camp in New Mexico, circa 1890 (est. $2,000-$3,000) sold for $9,375;
– Lot 100, a broadside recruiting African Americans to a new settlement, Jennings City, Texas, circa 1918 (est. $1,500-$2,500) sold for $8,125.

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