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 120

Cabinet Card, Three Texas Cowboys, Harbage, Brownwood Texas

Estimate: $200 - $300
Starting Bid
$100

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
Three unidentified cowboys are portrayed full-length in this cabinet card produced by Harbage of Brownwood, Texas, dating to the 1890s based on mount style and attire. All three men wear wide-brimmed hats, white shirts, and suspenders, and each carries working gear consistent with ranch labor, placing this firmly within the occupational portrait tradition popular across the Texas frontier during that decade.

The leftmost man sports a prominent mustache, a broad-brimmed black hat, a heavy leather belt with a large buckle, and leather leggings with spur straps buckled at the ankle. The center figure holds a long leather lasso in one hand, with coiled rope pooled at his feet, while the third man leans casually against a painted studio divider and wears a cartridge or tool belt across his waist.

Harbage operated in Brownwood, Brown County, Texas, a cattle-country hub in the late nineteenth century, and this portrait reflects the authentic working dress of Central Texas ranch hands of the period rather than theatrical cowboy costuming.

The reverse bears a faint partial inscription in the upper left corner, largely illegible.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer

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