Here we have an antique tintype of six people in a studio portrait, and one has turned his back on the whole affair. He sits at the right in a straw boater and a pinstriped jacket, facing the painted backdrop like it owes him money. Every other face in the room is pointed in the general direction of the lens.
Back-turned sitters are rare in tintypes to begin with. When they turn up, it is usually a lone sitter or a whole group in on the joke. A single holdout among five willing faces is stranger still. Nobody wrote down why he turned. My money is on a lost bet, and the photographer took his fee regardless.
The rest of the party behaves. A man at the back holds a derby against his chest and gives the camera a flat stare. Beside him a woman in a high white collar appears to have blinked at the worst possible second. Below them sit two women in hats the size of wagon wheels, one dark and one pale and feathered. Up front, a bareheaded woman grins off to the side with what appears to be a fur piece or another hat in her lap.
The rare tintype comes out of an old Chicago estate of a serious collector. Not sure of the real origins. I estimate it’s from the turn of the century, either before or after 1900.
The unusual old tintype photograph measures about 3 1/2” tall by 2 1/2” wide. The plate has a gentle bow across its width, visible in the side view. Emulsion is lost along the right and bottom edges, exposing bare metal with some darkening. The top edge has a small step near the upper right corner. A long diagonal scratch runs from the backdrop at upper left across the standing man's jacket. Scattered pinpoint losses and specks appear across the surface, with light scuffing in the background. The back is dark brown with streaky brush texture. A pale patch at upper left is residue from an old label or mount and the back edges show small chips. The image itself is clear, with five faces and one very committed back all fully readable. Please see all pics as they are part of the description.
I ship FedEx to street addresses in the continental USA only (no PO Boxes). Free shipping on the six-person tintype with one holdout.
Five of them gave the photographer what he asked for. The sixth kept his reasons, and he has kept them for over a century.
