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 331

Stereoview, Shoshone Group, Chief Pocatello's Band, C.W. Carter

Estimate: $200 - $300
Starting Bid
$100

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
Five members of the Northwestern Shoshone band led by Chief Pocatello are arranged before a painted studio backdrop of trees in this albumen stereoview by Charles William Carter of Salt Lake City, active from the 1860s through the 1890s and among the foremost photographers of Indigenous peoples in the Utah Territory. Four figures stand while a fifth is seated in front, and the orange-bordered mount bears Carter's imprint on the left and right margins in bold printed type. The hand-applied color tinting on the card is characteristic of Carter's commercial stereoview production.

The central standing figure wears multiple strands of large shell disc necklaces and a wrapped blanket, with long braided hair falling across both shoulders. The seated figure in front holds a rifle across the lap, wearing a plaid cloth wrap and ear ornaments, while two of the standing figures are bare-chested and draped in striped trade blankets. A fur pelt is visible at lower right.

Chief Pocatello, also known as Tondzaosha, led the Northwestern Shoshone through some of the most turbulent decades of the mid-nineteenth century in present-day Idaho and Utah, and his band's documented contact with Carter's studio places this view most likely in the early 1870s. The reverse bears a penciled inscription reading "Pacotellos" and the catalog number 199.

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