An elderly man, advanced in years and bearing the weight of a long life in his posture and expression, sits for a quarter plate tintype portrait likely made during the 1860s or 1870s. The image is housed in a gilt-mat oval mount with an embossed floral border and presented within a leather case with embossed scrollwork decoration on the exterior. No photographer's imprint is visible.

The subject wears a dark frock coat over a double-breasted waistcoat with a row of small white buttons, and a loosely knotted cravat at the open collar. He grips a wooden walking cane upright between his knees with both hands, his thinning white hair swept across the forehead. A flat-brimmed top hat rests on a florally upholstered surface to his right, suggesting it was removed for the sitting.

The composition places the sitter in a plain studio chair with the hat and upholstered prop lending modest depth to an otherwise spare setting. The subject's direct, weathered gaze and the informal arrangement of his clothing give the portrait an unstageed frankness uncommon in more formal studio work of the period.

The case interior is lined with red embossed velvet on the cover and red fabric beneath the image. No inscriptions or notations are present on the case or reverse. The image is a quarter plate.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer