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 623

RPPC, Mexican Revolution Mass Burial Scene, W.H. Horne, El Paso

Estimate: $50 - $100
Starting Bid
$25

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 real photo postcard documenting a mass burial during the Mexican Revolution, bearing the copyright imprint and series number 805 of Walter H. Horne, the El Paso-based photographer who arrived in the border city in 1910 and built his career producing documentary postcards of the conflict in northern Mexico. Horne purchased a camera expressly to sell postcards of battles and other war-related scenes, and by 1916 was paying Mexican military members for access to photograph such events. The postmark on the reverse identifies the card as mailed from a Texas City military station, consistent with the wide distribution of Horne's series among soldiers and observers along the border.

The foreground shows several men in light work clothing and wide-brimmed hats lowering a body into a long earthen trench already holding additional casualties, while a group of dark-suited observers stands at left mid-ground watching the proceedings. A figure in a broad sombrero and dark coat stands sentinel at the far left, rifle visible at his side, and a second dark-coated figure occupies the far right. The open, arid landscape extends to a distant treeline and town skyline under a hazy sky, with crude grave markers visible in the background.

Walter H. Horne (1883–1921) was an American entrepreneur who arrived in El Paso in 1910 and stayed until his death, seeing the financial potential of the photographic postcard and covering the revolution in northern Mexico. When Pancho Villa attacked Columbus, New Mexico, Horne was the first photographer on the scene, underscoring the firsthand access that makes his numbered series among the most important visual records of the conflict.

Printed copyright credit reading "805 / W.H. Horne / ©" appears in the lower left of the image. Reverse bears a one-cent green George Washington U.S. postage stamp, a Texas City Military postmark, a handwritten message, and an address to Mrs. Bert Perkins, 1442 61st Ave., East Oakland, California.

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