Group of six carte de visite photographs depicting George Washington Morrison Nutt (1848–1881), known professionally as “Commodore Nutt,” one of P. T. Barnum’s most famous little-person performers. Several images show Nutt posed standing on a studio table in theatrical costumes including military, sailor, and vagabond-style outfits with various props.

One photograph shows Nutt holding a baseball bat, an unusual and early baseball-themed portrait likely produced during the early popularity of the sport in the 1860s. Another image depicts him with a drum, while others show him holding a riding crop or cane. One photograph shows Nutt posed beside P. T. Barnum, emphasizing the dramatic difference in scale between the showman and the performer.

Two mounts carry printed captions including “Commodore Nutt As the Sailor” and “Commodore Nutt As Cain.” Another example reads “Commodore Nutt Repelling a Charge.” Several examples bear the imprint “Published by J. O. Kane, 126 Nassau St., New York,” with additional publishers including J. H. Bigelow, 212 Broadway and D. Appleton & Co., 443 & 445 Broadway, New York. One reverse includes a later pencil identification reading “Commodore Nutt in Vagabond Costume 1863.”

Commodore Nutt toured extensively with Barnum’s American Museum and later exhibitions during the 1860s and 1870s, becoming one of the best-known dwarf performers of the nineteenth century. These cartes de visite were widely sold as collectible souvenirs to museum visitors.

Group of six CDV photographs, each with printed or publisher imprints on the reverses.