Old photos strike me for all sorts of different reasons-- most often, with portraits, it is because I find the subject highly empathetic! That's very much the case with this hand-colored CDV of a young fellow identified on verso as C. Eshelman (I think likely Charles Emory Eshelman, 1867-1940, of Pennsylvania, as was the photographer. C.B. Tinker, printed on the back.) T
The neck sash is Odd Fellows, or at least of some fraternal order, and I like the combination of sword on it and sword in our young man's hand. But what I really love is the humanity of it all--him looking rather ill at ease in his suit and bow tie, a bit flushed with those tinted pink cheeks, and extra awkward for the failure of that curtain to entirely cover the chair behind it, such that the photo has a bit of a hidden mother aspect to it and also feels as if capturing a poorly performed magic trick! Anyway, I love it, and him, and think he and it make quite good company.
4 1/8" x 2 1/2" and in very good antique condition.
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