A bearded Union officer stands in three-quarter length pose against a plain studio backdrop in this albumen CDV produced by J. Gurney & Son at their well-known Broadway gallery in New York City, almost certainly during the Civil War years of the early 1860s. Jeremiah Gurney and his son operated one of the most prominent portrait studios in antebellum and wartime New York, counting politicians, generals, and cultural figures among their clientele, making this an attribution of genuine distinction. The subject is unidentified, but the uniform and accessories place him squarely within the officer class of the Union Army.

He wears a double-breasted dark frock coat with two rows of seven buttons, shoulder straps, and a leather waist belt with a visible plate; a cavalry-style saber with a knuckle-bow guard hangs at his left hip. His full beard and mustache are neatly groomed, his expression direct and composed, and an ornately carved studio chair is visible at lower left. A draped fabric panel anchors the background to his right.

The reverse bears the printed oval studio stamp reading "J. Gurney & Son, Photographic Artists, 707 Broadway, N.Y.," with a spread eagle at top. Penciled notations in the upper right corner read "58ct" and the circled numeral "16."

From the collection of James Lee Soffer