New Buck Ewing cabinet card, provenance needed?

[Detroit58]

Hello again. I recently showed a cabinet card and showed a few in the past. This one I share with you now is a Buck Ewing. I believe we are all familiar with Buck’s face. Hard to dispute. Is provenance needed? Provenance meaning “history of ownership.” Do we need the “history of ownership” to positively affirm the identity of this image as Buck Ewing. Is facial recognition a technical process, familiarity of a face or the history of ownership. Should facial recognition ever be brought into the equation if there is a “history of ownership.” What seems a need for “history of ownership”? Is the “history of ownership” in determining authenticity of a face or the last? If two images of Michael Jordan are being compared, when does “history of ownership” come into play? I think we all seen the minor league cabinet card that names Honus Wagner as being a player that is obviously not him. Wagner may not even be in the image. There’s one guy on the opposite side of the team photo that might be him. At some point the pen and pencil markings need to be double checked a little better. That card has sold in auction. Should an authenticator need to know the “history of ownership”? Do you need an authenticator to tell you this is Buck Ewing? Are authenticators needed when a face is unfamiliar? Does the “history of ownership” have any revelance to determine whether an image is person? I’m still trying to figure to save my pics as JPEGS. My apologies.B23B1598-94B5-42A3-9843-232E2940402C.jpg

[ctownboy]

Is this going to be another Jim O'Rourke or Asa Brainard thing where you find an old cabinet card and then try and find a match with a famous base ball player?

David

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by ctownboy

Is this going to be another Jim O'Rourke or Asa Brainard thing where you find an old cabinet card and then try and find a match with a famous base ball player?

David

It's all about the ears David...

[Detroit58]

When a Fleer Michael Jordan is auctioned off, is the “history of ownership” part of the equation or a deal breaker? When you represent a card as Buck Ewing, does it then become a question of facial recognition? If it’s passes facial recognition, does it then become a question of “is the card physically authentic”? F5606F6B-99C1-4070-96E7-35F2757664FB.jpgWhen does “history of ownership” come into play? If the Buck Ewing in question is published by a known baseball card maker, does it then become a question of physical authenticity after the recognition work has been done? Is there a need for the question of “history of ownership” at that point?

[Detroit58]

I agree it’s all about the ears. Other factors FE4E0FB7-5D22-45AB-85AF-DF984E348984.jpgcome into play when ear detail ain’t great. Does this pass the ear test?

[Casey2296]

I'll play, no it doesn't, the ear canal is distinctly different as is the pronounced peak in the photo on the right, as well as the shape of the lobe. Plus the head on your cabinet is taller than the Ewing photo you posted.

I'll admit it's a close resemblance and hope it's genuine, but you should spend the dough to have it authenticated, would be worth your while. The best advice for things like this is "Send it to Henry".

[BobC]

When a 30+ year old Jordan photo is sold, he, and likely the photographer, are both still alive and have either marked the photo or can otherwise personally verify it is Jordan if there is any question.

Your cabinet/photo is possibly 130+ years or so old, the subject and photographer both long dead, along with anyone else alive at the time it was taken to identify who this is. And with apparently no markings or writings on it to name who the photo is of, the photographer that took it, or from what studio it came. At least none that you've shared with us. There are no uniforms or signs, background buildings or landmarks, or anything else in the photo to help identify who it is and where/when the photo was taken either. And the subject is wearing a suit and tie, sporting a handlebar mustache, and wearing a bowler hat I believe, all just like so many men wore and sported back in the day.

And just because it may resemble Ewing somewhat, still doesn't make it provable it is him. I've seen photos of numerous doppelgangers over the years, much better than this one. And with no additional evidence, markings, provenance, or even a verifiable chain of ownership through till today, what you have is a nice clean old photo/cabinet of an unidentified man from probably back in the late 1800's, and that's it. Unless you can somehow get one of the renowned and respected baseball historians or so-called experts to go out on a limb and declare that is Ewing. But I wouldn't go holding my breath waiting for that to happen if I were you. Good luck otherwise.

[RCMcKenzie]

Ewing passed away in 1906 at the age of 47. The guy in photo looks too old to be Ewing.

[bigfanNY]

The Buck did not stop for that photo..