$51,240
Albumen Print Cabinet Card Portrait of Jesse James, with C. C. Giers' credit and backstamp to verso, signed in bold black ink beneath image ("J W James"), Nashville: C. C. Giers, card c. 1868-1869, albumen print, date unknown. The most iconic photograph of notorious outlaw, Jesse Woodson James (1847-1882), reproduced in (Gretna, 1998), p. 46, and (Steele, 1997), p. 20. Probably the only extant signed photograph of the legendary Western gunman, in fine condition with only minor soiling to the verso. Carl Casper Giers (1828-1877) was a prominent photographer in Nashville, Tennessee, and held a studio on Union Street between 1866-1879, with his adopted son, Otto Giers, taking over after his death. While the studio began using the daguerreotype method, they adopted the ambrotype method for a short while, after which they produced albumen prints. Cabinet cards from Giers can be distinguished by the ornate backstamp designs, such as that of the present photograph. City directories show he used the "45 Union St." address from 1872 until his death in 1877 on the backstamp. The "43&45 Union St." imprint reflects the 1868-71 period. The present cabinet card bears the "43&45 Union St." imprint, suggesting that, while the print itself may be slightly later, the card was from the 1868-1871 period. According to Philip W. Steele in it is believed that the James brothers, following a $14,000 bank robbery in Russelville, Kentucky, spent the end of 1868 and most of 1869 in Nashville, Read more…
Auctioneer:
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
Date:
2011-04-05
