1860's Abe Lincoln Family Photo-Photography Experts Opinions
 

I have a photo that came framed in an antique frame that pictures Abe Lincoln and his family in a famous photo pose. I have removed it from the frame to scan it so it shows clearly here. The photo was originally trimmed to the current oval shape and affixed to the mat.

Can this be an original circa 1860's photo?

Thanks for any photograph expert opinions.

I'm not an expert, but the image appears to me to be an illustration (an ink drawing) possibly based on a photograph that had been taken.

Yes that is not a photograph

That's where I'm at, but think it's probably either a copper plate or steel plate engraving.

Famous image of family that has been duplicated many times, in this case definitely some kind of engraving or early lithograph print to make it look like a photo from a distance. I have hand some nice Abe Lincoln items over the years and lots of paper type prints and photos have been reissued over and over due to popularity of his presidency. I have also see this image in older books as well, still an old piece and nice in the frame, cool item.

Heaven or Hell
 

Either a wonderful period piece or made to look like a wonderful period piece. What were the circumstances of purchase?

Purchased from an auction house who just described it as an1860’s photo. Looked neat so I took a chance. I do not think it was made to look old. I think it is old but is it 160 years old or 80 years old?

Hi-

I googled the title of the item in quotation marks and added the word print outside of the marks. I found a CDV of your image and the owner of it said that the CDV came from a steel engraving. I then searched with the title in quotes and then the word steel engraving and I found a few. I think that is what you have but I am not 100% certain.

https://the-antiqueology.myshopify.c...teel-engraving

Alan

Photography gets tricky from that era because it was actually easier to make a photograph from a print than to mass produce a print in many ways.

If an artist makes an engraving or wood cut, there generally is only one way to reproduce it. If a photographer takes a photograph of the engraving, he now has a glass plate he can take back to his studio, send in the mail to a friend or business partner, and he can now make unlimited copies of the engraving. You see this often in the Civil War era and through the 1870's.

It is likely a mounted photograph of an engraving for the purposes of mass production. The mount and paper appear to be vintage to the 1860's or early 1870's.

Thanks for the thorough answer. Makes sense. Does this item have any value since it looks to date to the original time period but as you said could have been mass produced at that time or is it just a wall hanging?

The frame itself has value as well, the print would need to be looked at and compared to other paper from 1860s/1870s. Not seeing it in person is tough to evaluate, not sure of the size or anything. I have seen many engravings and lithographs just cut and framed from books - so do a bit of research first. Match the paper from an old book, if the paper is thicker and is stronger than maybe you have something specific that the frame could have been created for. This certainly would give you more value than just a cut from the book, see how it fits within the frame and how the paper was cut. Good luck!

Thanks for the info.