Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

Fall Photographic History Auction, 2025

Sat, Sep 6, 2025 01:00PM EDT
  2025-09-06 13:00:00 2025-09-06 13:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : Fall Photographic History Auction, 2025 https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/fall-photographic-history-auction-2025-20189
We are pleased to announce our next auction, featuring approximately 200 individual lots drawn from a diverse and compelling range of 19th- and early 20th-century photography. This sale focuses on vernacular images, photographs created not as formal studio portraits or elite commissions, but as direct, unscripted records of lived experience. These are objects made by and for everyday people, preserving moments of intimacy, labor, travel, performance, identity, and loss.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 364

Cabinet Card of Six Men Raising a Toast, New Jersey Studio Portrait

Estimate: $100 - $200
Starting Bid
$50

Bid Increments

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Group portrait of six well-dressed men gathered around a table, raising their glasses in a staged toast while a seventh man pours from a decanter. Taken at the Porticus Studio in Newton, New Jersey, the cabinet card captures a moment of camaraderie and celebration, likely commemorating a formal event or fraternal gathering. Each man wears a boutonnière, pocket watch chain, and formal attire, suggesting an occasion of significance.

A young girl, seated in the foreground with a slight blur from movement, adds an element of spontaneity to the otherwise posed scene. The background features a painted studio backdrop and lace-covered table with glasses, reinforcing the deliberate staging typical of late 19th-century studio photography. An engaging composition with rich period detail, offering a glimpse into the rituals and bonds of Gilded Age American social life.

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