Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

Winter Photographic History Auction 2026

Sat, Jan 31, 2026 01:00PM EST
  2026-01-31 13:00:00 2026-01-31 13:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : Winter Photographic History Auction 2026 https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/winter-photographic-history-auction-2026-21839
We are pleased to present our Winter Photography Auction, opening January 31 at 1:00 PM Eastern, featuring approximately 270 individual lots spanning the full breadth of 19th- and early 20th-century photography. The sale brings together landmark historical images, rare early photographic processes, and a deep selection of vernacular material created outside the conventions of formal studio portraiture. Collectively, these works offer a direct, unfiltered record of American life, identity, conflict, labor, and memory during photography’s formative century.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 145

Pair of Sixth Plate Tintypes, Civil War Soldiers in Full Cases

Estimate: $200 - $300
Starting Bid
$100

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
A pair of sixth plate tintypes depicting unidentified Civil War soldiers, each shown in uniform and housed in a full leatherette case. Both images present single male subjects posed in studio settings, wearing dark military coats with brass buttons and regulation caps bearing small metallic insignia. The photographic process is tintype, consistent with mid-19th-century wartime portraiture, and the scale and presentation indicate sixth plate format.

In each portrait, the soldier is seated and posed in a composed, formal manner typical of studio work during the Civil War period. One sitter rests an arm on a support or chair back, while the other holds his hands together at mid-torso, both gazing directly at the camera. The uniforms are plain and unadorned beyond standard buttons and cap devices, offering no visible unit identification. No weapons or additional equipment are present in these views, emphasizing the personal, commemorative nature of the portraits rather than a martial display.

Both tintypes are set behind oval mats with embossed patriotic or floral motifs, paired with decorative brass mats and housed in full cases. The cases feature contrasting velvet or fabric liners and stamped metal surrounds consistent with Civil War-era production. No photographer’s imprint or identifying text is visible on either example.

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The Elsa Schaar Collection is a large, intact assemblage of early American photographic portraiture dating circa 1839–1870, formed primarily between the 1920s and 1950s by collector and antiques dealer Elsa Schaar Beugler Haase (1894–1976). The collection comprises 453 photographic works, including 258 daguerreotypes and ambrotypes in a wide range of original cases, 139 tintypes, 56 carte-de-visite photographs, and several Civil War–era and tintype albums. Elsa Schaar, based largely in Elmira, New York, actively bought, sold, and corresponded with collectors nationwide, often through ads in Hobbies (later Antiques & Collecting Magazine), developing a focused interest in early portrait photography. Following her death, the collection passed intact to her brother, architect William R. Schaar, and is now being offered by his descendants, preserving a clear and well-documented line of descent spanning more than a century