ANTIQIE CABINET CARD PHOTOGRAPH of a TATOOED MAN by CHARLES EISENMANN

Description

ANTIQIE CABINET CARD PHOTOGRAPH of a TATOOED MAN
by CHARLES EISENMANN
This wonderful antique photograph probably dates from the 1880's.
The actual photograph measures 3 3/4 x 5 5/8 inches.
The photograph is slightly faded and has some extremely minor foxing but otherwise very good condition!
NO RESERVE!
Charles Eisenmann
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Charles Eisenmann
Cabinet card of Eisenmann, verso
Born
October 5, 1855
Germany
Died
December 8, 1927 (aged 72)
Nationality
American
Education
W. W. Washburn in
New Orleans
Known for
Photography
Charles Eisenmann
(October 5, 1855 – December 8, 1927) was a famous
New York
photographer during the late 1880s who worked in the
Bowery
district.
[1]
Eisenmann's photography was sold in the form of
Cabinet cards
, popular in this era, available to the middle class. Eisenmann also supplied
Duke Tobacco Company
with
cheesecake photography
to stuff in their tobacco cans. The book
Victorian Cartes-de-Visite
credits Eisenmann with being the most prolific and well known photographer when it comes to Cabinet cards.
His work was the subject of a 1979 monograph,
Monsters of the
Gilded Age
, focusing on his work on human oddities from the
Barnum and Bailey
circus, with a notable widely circulated picture of
Jojo the Dog-faced Boy
.
[2]
Although a number of his photographs were of obvious fakes (called "gaffed freaks"),
[3]
many others were genuinely anomalous, including the giant
Ruth Goshen
, the four-legged girl
Myrtle Corbin
, and the Siamese twins
Chang and Eng
and
Millie and Christine
.
Bowery district
[
]
Bowery Mission
now stands where Eisenmann's studio was
The address was 229 Bowery, which now is the home of a ministry and recently underwent a 3 million dollar renovation.
[4]
At the time the
Bowery
district was an eclectic mix of artists, transient people and prostitutes.
[5]
The depiction of this area in the movie
Gangs of New York
is judged by experts to be fairly accurate.
[6]
The fallout of the
New York City draft riots
would have made for an era in New York that was unbridled and experimental: an ideal setting for unusual and cutting-edge photography.
Humbugs
In his book,
Secrets of the Sideshows
,
Joe Nickell
points out that Eisenmann used a number of notable
humbugs
or gaffs. These included his "
Circassian beauties
", women with teased, large hairdos who were said to have escaped from Turkish
harems
. The models were locals from the
Bronx
with hair made frizzy and wild by washing in beer, who earned money for posing.
Victorian society and circus freaks
Photo of
P. T. Barnum
by Charles Eisenmann
Photo of girl dressed in circus garb
In the late 1880s, A new phenomenaon appeared with Victorian society's fascination and sympathy for people who appeared to have genetic abnormalities. There was much publicity, for example, over
Princess Alexandra's
attention to
Joseph Merrick
, the "Elephant Man."
Eisenmann saw the golden opportunity in this fascination, and photographed circus people dressed as Victorian society, and conversely Victorian society with circus props. In New York city circus people were quite well received, as evidenced by the proliferation of
dime museums
and the PT Barnum circus located in New York.
One of Eisenmann's subjects,
Charles Stratton
(Major Tom Thumb) was quite well known, and his wedding was quite the affair. "The couple’s elaborate wedding took place in
Grace Episcopal Church
in New York City. The
Astors
and the
Vanderbilts
were said to have attended as Barnum sold tickets for ."
[7]
Other prestigious clients included
Mark Twain
, and
Annie Oakley
. In some ways Eisenmann can be considered a kind of
Annie Leibovitz
of the Victorian Bowery district. His career suffered a downturn with the introduction of
Gelatin silver process
photography which made photographs more inexpensive and available for mass consumption.
[8]
Also,
Vaudeville
overtook circuses in popularity at this time as well. In 1898 Eisenmann closed his studio and was succeeded by Frank Wendt.
[9]
Frank was a sort of intern of his.
[10]
For a few years, he sold photographic equipment and took conventional portraits in
Plainfield, New Jersey
but by 1907 he had disappeared from the public record,
[11]
some believing he went to Germany. This was the second time he went off the radar, the first time being when his first wife died. At that time he was believed to have gone to Asia.
Eventually, in the early 1900s, he resurfaced as the head of the photography department for
DuPont
taking pictures of employees. He died in 1927.
[8]
A collection of his photographs was auctioned off through
Sotheby's
in 1991, with an estimated price of between ,000 and ,000 for the large collection.
[12]