Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Sat, Sep 19, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-19 11:00:00 2026-09-19 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/september-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-24380
Our September 2026 auction is anchored by two remarkable private collections, together making up about half the sale, alongside a broader selection of consignments spanning early photography, Civil War material, and vernacular imagery. The Soffer Collection, built with an eye for rarity and historical significance, is particularly strong in vernacular portraiture, Native American photographs, and Iowa Civil War imagery. The Palmer, Massachusetts collection, much of it found at Brimfield, centers on maker-marked daguerreotypes from the golden age of the American daguerreian studio.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 330

Cabinet Card, Frank Kent and Dan Tohee, Ioway Nation

Estimate: $300 - $500
Starting Bid
$150

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
Frank Kent, identified on the mount as Chief of the Iowas and noted as the oldest living member of the nation at 115 in 1955, is seated at left alongside Dan Tohee in this albumen cabinet card made outdoors against a painted studio backdrop. The printed caption "IOWAS." appears within the image field, and the reverse bears pencil inscriptions identifying the subjects as Nowanaway and Solomon Kent, cross-referencing the Kent family. No photographer's imprint is visible.

Kent wears a floral-print trade cloth shirt and multiple strands of white shell or bone beads, holds a small hand mirror, and has two feathers rising from his hair. Tohee, standing at right, wears a plain trade cloth shirt belted at the waist over a fringed skirt, a large silver gorget or medallion on a cord, and holds a wide-brimmed woven straw hat at his side.

Frank Kent, also known as Nowanaway II or Big Bear Two Hands II, was a recognized leader of the Ioway (Báxoje) people, a Siouan-speaking nation historically centered along the Iowa and Missouri rivers whose members were relocated to reservations in Kansas, Nebraska, and Indian Territory during the nineteenth century.

Recto inscribed in ink below image: "(l) Frank Kent, Chief of the Iowas, Oldest living, 115 in 1955." Verso inscribed in pencil: "Nowanaway / Solomon Kent" with a notation reading "1946 / Brumm" in a second hand.

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