Ambrotype portrait of “Jake and Charles. Two old cronies – intimate friends … Who can deny that we are a happy pair when together.” Dated 15 September, 1862.

[USA : unknown photographer], September 1862. Sixth-plate ambrotype with applied colouring, 53 x 62 mm (sight), in an oval brass mat with a scrolling foliate motif, housed in a half leather case with embossed geometric design; a fully contemporary inscription in pencil to the paper lining the inside wall of the case reads: ‘Taken Sept. 15th 1862. Jake and Charles. Two old cronies – intimate friends – Always will remember the week and circumstances which called us together on this occasion. Who can deny that we are a happy pair when together.’; the ambrotype is in very fine condition.

An extraordinary Civil War-era homosocial portrait of two affectionate young male friends.