Description
The same Confederate Lieutenant Colonel is pictured in this pair of ambrotypes. The half plate image shows the officer standing alone, and the quarter plate image shows him seated with his wife standing next to him. He appears to be wearing the same single breasted frock coat in both images, with the two stars of a Confederate Lieutenant Colonel on the collar. The frock coat is very plain, missing the decorative cuffs, collar, sleeve decoration and double row of buttons typical of a Confederate officer dress uniform. The simplicity of the frock coat leads me to believe that the officer is wearing his early war state uniform and was at most a captain prior to his promotion to field rank. The images are therefore likely early war. Both images are posed in front of a plain backdrop, with the subjects as the focal point. The only tinting is some color to the cheeks. The pictures were likely taken by the same photographer.
Higher ranking Confederate images are not common, with multiple views of the same person even more uncommon. Confederates posed in uniform with their wives are both desirable and uncommon. A pair of images like this is therefore a centerpiece grouping. Both images are in excellent condition and are housed in leatherette cases with repaired spines.
