Winter Photographic History Auction 2026
Sat, Jan 31, 2026 01:00PM EST
Lot 231
Ambrotype Profile Portrait of a Man, Quinby of NYC
Estimate: $100 - $200
Bid Increments
| Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 | $10 |
| $200 | $25 |
| $500 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $2,000 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 | $2,000 |
Ninth plate ambrotype portrait of an unidentified man shown in strict profile, facing left, photographed in a studio setting. The image is an ambrotype on glass, presented behind a scalloped brass mat. The sitter wears a dark coat, white shirt, and a prominent bow tie, with neatly groomed hair and beard, emphasizing the deliberate classical profile pose favored in mid-19th-century studio practice.
The brass mat is stamped “QUINBY, 385 BROADWAY,” identifying the photographer and address. This imprint corresponds to the New York studio of Thomas C. Quinby, active at that Broadway location during the 1850s. Profile portraits of this type required careful lighting and precise posing and were often commissioned to emphasize facial structure and refinement rather than direct engagement with the viewer.
The ambrotype is housed in a period case with a gilt mat and decorative border. No handwritten identification or additional text is visible beyond the stamped studio on the mat. The presentation is consistent with professionally produced New York City ambrotypes of the period.
The brass mat is stamped “QUINBY, 385 BROADWAY,” identifying the photographer and address. This imprint corresponds to the New York studio of Thomas C. Quinby, active at that Broadway location during the 1850s. Profile portraits of this type required careful lighting and precise posing and were often commissioned to emphasize facial structure and refinement rather than direct engagement with the viewer.
The ambrotype is housed in a period case with a gilt mat and decorative border. No handwritten identification or additional text is visible beyond the stamped studio on the mat. The presentation is consistent with professionally produced New York City ambrotypes of the period.
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The Elsa Schaar Collection is a large, intact assemblage of early American photographic portraiture dating circa 1839–1870, formed primarily between the 1920s and 1950s by collector and antiques dealer Elsa Schaar Beugler Haase (1894–1976). The collection comprises 453 photographic works, including 258 daguerreotypes and ambrotypes in a wide range of original cases, 139 tintypes, 56 carte-de-visite photographs, and several Civil War–era and tintype albums. Elsa Schaar, based largely in Elmira, New York, actively bought, sold, and corresponded with collectors nationwide, often through ads in Hobbies (later Antiques & Collecting Magazine), developing a focused interest in early portrait photography. Following her death, the collection passed intact to her brother, architect William R. Schaar, and is now being offered by his descendants, preserving a clear and well-documented line of descent spanning more than a century
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