A young man poses beside a penny farthing high wheel bicycle in this sixth plate tintype, likely produced in an American studio during the late 1870s or early 1880s, when high-wheel cycling reached peak popularity in the United States. The photographer is unidentified and no studio imprint is present. The image is housed in a leather case with embossed floral and scroll decoration on both covers.

The subject stands in a confident, wide-legged stance with his left hand resting on his hip and his right hand gripping the bicycle's handlebar at shoulder height. He wears a light work shirt with rolled sleeves, dark trousers, low boots, and a loosely tied bow at his collar. The penny farthing's enormous spoked front wheel dominates the right side of the frame, while the much smaller trailing wheel is visible at lower left against a painted studio backdrop featuring architectural and foliate elements.

The penny farthing, also called the ordinary bicycle, was manufactured and ridden competitively in America primarily between 1878 and 1892, making studio portraits posed with one a notable record of early American cycling culture. The gilt mat framing the tintype is ornate and scalloped, and the case interior opposite the image is lined with salmon-colored fabric.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer