Carte-de-visite portrait of General George A. Custer, 1865.
In May 1865, after receiving the flag of truce and taking part in the now famous surrender of Confederate General Lee at Appomattox, General Custer posed for photographs for acclaimed photographer Matthew Brady in a Washington D.C. studio. This particular carte-de-visite (CDV) was made during this sitting and the image was marketed by Beers & Mansfield National Gallery 242 Chapel St. New Haven, Connecticut, in a bid to capitalize on the popularity of Custer.
The CDV was only the size of an average business card. CDVs originated in Europe and were analogous to what we now call "trading cards". They soon became enormously popular during the American Civil War. There was a high demand for photographs featuring popular figures of that time and this led to the publication of many personal images, which were then traded and, of course, collected in albums. These albums then became a common fixture in many Victorian homes.
Mathew Brady was a preeminent photographer of his day who maintained a studio in which General Custer sat for photographs several times. This is one of a series of images captured at the end of the Civil War of Custer in the uniform of a Union Army Major General. Brady was the first recognized photographer to systematically document the American Civil War and for this he has been called the "Father of Photo-journalism"
Provenance:
• Original image taken by Matthew Brady in Washington D.C., 1865.
• Carte-de-visite by Beers & Mansfield National Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, 1865.
• Private Collectors.
• The Crow Art Partnership Collection, Dallas, Texas, until 2007.
• Sold via Heritage Auction Inc., Dallas, Texas at the 24 June 2007, Civil War Grand Format Auction, in Gettysburg, PA, to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 2007.
ZFC Noteworthy Flag
Item is Framed
Sources:
Katz, D. Mark, Custer in Photographs, Bonanza Books, New York, 1985.
Matthew Brady, KEYA MORGAN COLLECTION, 17 May 2012, from: http://www.mathewbrady.com/index.htm
Carte-de-visite, Wikipedia, 18 May 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_de_visite
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
