Wild Dan the Banjo Man
SOLD March 2005 |
Sixth plate ambrotype, anonymous American ca. 1860, showing an energetic gent strumming a banjo, with applied hand-coloring in red and gilt and a finely etched false "imperial" goatee and mustache. Housed in a very battered pressed-paper case with split spine.
A very cool image. The mustache and beard are additions finely scratched into the plate, I assume by the photographer, since they are very lifelike and appear to have been done under magnification. The "imperial" goatee and mustache was popularized by Napoleon III of France and while it was not everyday wear in the United States during this period one does see it as a sort of comic effect on stage performers and clowns.
The case is original to image as found, the mat and protector are replacements, but match the abrasions from the original mat.
