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 349

CDV, Emancipated Slave from New Orleans, I.G. Owen, NJ

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
A standing woman, identified by inscription on the reverse as an emancipated slave from New Orleans, is portrayed in this albumen CDV produced by I.G. Owen of Newton, New Jersey. The date notation of April 4, 1865, places this portrait within days of the Union Army's capture of Richmond and just before Lincoln's assassination, situating it at one of the most turbulent moments of the Civil War's conclusion. The format and studio attribution are consistent with Owen's known activity in Newton during the 1860s.

She wears a full-skirted plaid dress with pagoda sleeves, a narrow dark sash at the waist, and a white collar at the throat. Horizontal stripe trim borders the hem, and she rests one hand on the carved back of an upholstered parlor chair with floral fabric, standing on a patterned carpet before a mottled studio backdrop.

April 4, 1865, was the very day Abraham Lincoln walked the streets of newly fallen Richmond, making this portrait a remarkable contemporaneous document of emancipation in its immediate human dimension.

The reverse bears an ornate printed imprint for I.G. Owen, Newton, New Jersey, with pencil inscriptions reading "The emancipation slave from New Orleans," "Belleville," "April 4, 1865," and "Hoppy Hidu."

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