Two Union soldiers playing with swords
Playing at the studio…
The non-military issue pistol wedged into the belt near the saber scabbard of the cavalry man to the right could indicate that this picture was taken during the Civil War, not at peace time, when private additions to the uniform were less tolerated.
The two Union men are constrained by the narrow confines of their photographer’s studio and may have had the most rudimentary fencing training.
Bruce Milligan points out: “Just FYI, infantry officers had blue stripes on their trousers; artillery officers red, and cavalry officers yellow.” Looking at the pants of the man to the right, it bears pointing out that there is no stripe in place… in fact, he wears tweed pants and a tweed vest beneath his jacket.
This is a wonderful photograph. Is there a back stamp with the photographers name and location? Is this a cabinet card? What are its measurements? CDV’s were the typical images found during the civil war rather than Cabinet cards which were i believe introduced after the civil war. Could this be a photograph from a stage play? I am interested in your and others opinion about my questions. Thank you for listing this very interesting photograph. I will soon be posting a few fencing cabinet cards to my site http://cabinetcardgallery.wordpress.com
Unfortunately, the photo is mounted on an unadorned piece of cardboard, with no clue as to who the photographer may have been.
The card measures 6 1/2″ by 4 1/16″, the photo itself 5 7/8″ by 3 13/16″.
I believe the “stage” is that of a photographer, not a theatric stage. (Clearly a one-man backdrop!)
And I am looking forward to your fencing-related cabinet cards. Just send me the link when you have them uploaded!
Here is a link to my recent post of a fencing cabinet card. I would appreciate any comments you and your readers may have about the card. I will be posting two more fencing cabinet cards in the near
future. http://cabinetcardgallery.wordpress.com/2009/01/01/three-fencers-in-jena-germany/