This ninth plate ruby ambrotype comes from the collection of the late Virginia collector and dealer Bill Turner. It is an extraordinarily clear portrait of a seated soldier from the waist up, wearing a gray kepi and a coat showing eight brass buttons to the camera, with a ninth likely present but not visible at bottom. The coat appears to be piped along the upper, lower and front edges of the collar. The buttons are high-domed and likely Virginia. He also wears a pair of second-lieutenant shoulder straps that appear home made, with flat braid borders, rather than heavy commercial bullion embroidery. They are also turned up at the ends, indicating they have been recently, and not very well applied, likely by the soldier, whose coat looks like an enlistedman’s coat, indicating he may have been only recently commissioned.

Bill acquired many of his images locally, often directly from descendants of the soldiers in the photographs, and identified this only as a Virginia lieutenant. We can see a faint name written in pencil in the back of the case in script that seems to read, “Huron,” “Haron” or something close to that, but can find no likely candidates in southern (or northern) rosters, even allowing for use as a first name. It is a nice image nonetheless, with the officer wearing a full chin-beard, his cheeks just lightly tinted, staring straight into the camera lens, and with a great provenance. [sr] [ph:L]

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