A bearded hunter seated in a studio chair holds a long-barreled rifle horizontally across his lap, staring directly into the lens with a composed, direct expression. The sixth plate tintype dates to the 1860s or 1870s and is housed in a leather case with an embossed scrollwork exterior and a red velvet pad opposite. A light-colored dog lies at the man's feet, and several freshly killed birds hang from a studio posing stand at his left, making this an unusually complete sporting composition for a cased image of this period.

The subject wears a dark sack coat with visible buttons at the collar, a low-crowned cap with a dark band, and heavy trousers, all consistent with working or hunting dress of the Civil War era. The posing stand, normally used to steady portrait subjects, is here repurposed as a game rack, a deliberate and uncommon studio arrangement that underscores the sitter's identity as a hunter.

Sporting tintypes combining a firearm, hunting dog, and game in a single studio composition are among the more sought-after occupational and genre subjects in nineteenth-century American photography, as each element required planning and props brought to or arranged within the studio.

No photographer's imprint is visible on the case or plate. The image is a sixth plate tintype housed in a leather case.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer