Documentary Tintype of an African American Family in Formal Attire, Post Civil War United States

African American Tintype

Photograph

Tintype photograph of an African American family group, 19th century, documenting family structure, dress, and self-presentation in the decades following emancipation, with direct relevance to the study of Black domestic life and identity formation in Reconstruction-era America. The image presents a seated man in a three-piece suit with a bowler hat resting on his lap, flanked by women in Victorian dress, including one seated beside him in a high-collared white gown with gloves and hat, and two standing figures positioned behind, one resting a hand on his shoulder. The arrangement and attire reflect formal studio conventions and convey participation in prevailing social norms of respectability and family cohesion during a period when African Americans were establishing independent households and public identities after the abolition of slavery.

Tintype photograph measuring approximately 2.5 x 3.5 inches, produced using a mid-nineteenth-century photographic process in which images were created on thin sheets of metal coated with a dark lacquer. The composition features four figures posed in a structured arrangement, with attention to clothing, posture, and gesture emphasizing familial relationships and visual balance within the frame.

Glue stain to verso; otherwise light wear consistent with age; overall very good condition. A clear and well-composed example of nineteenth-century African American family portraiture, preserving evidence of social aspiration and domestic identity in the post-emancipation United States.

Item #18476

Price: $650.00