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 328

Cabinet Card, White Ghost, Yanktonai Chief, Perry, Chamberlain

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
White Ghost, the Yanktonai Sioux chief known also as Wanagi Ska, is portrayed in this cabinet card by Perry of Chamberlain, Dakota Territory, almost certainly made during the late 1880s when Perry was actively photographing tribal leaders at and near the Crow Creek Reservation. White Ghost was a prominent figure in Yanktonai political life and the son of Bone Necklace. He wears a dark vest over a white long-sleeved shirt and a large circular peace medal suspended from a beaded strand around his neck, with a single upright feather in his long braided hair.

He sits on a hay-covered platform and holds a ceremonial pipe or staff laid across his lap, his right hand gripping a fan of feathers at his side. Heavily beaded leggings with geometric patterning in bands of blue, white, and red run the full length of both legs, and white moccasins complete the ensemble against the plain studio backdrop.

White Ghost served as head chief of the Crow Creek Reservation and was one of the signatories of the 1889 Sioux Agreement that divided the Great Sioux Reservation into smaller separate reservations, making him a central figure in one of the most consequential land negotiations of the late nineteenth-century Northern Plains. The imprint on the recto reads in a flowing script "White Ghost," and the reverse is inscribed in pencil: "White Ghost / Yanktonal / Crow Creek Reservation / South Dakota."

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