DWalt
Member
Probably taken by Matthew Brady.
I have this old photograph...
- Thread starter Karnivore
- Start date
Appears to be glass plate photo, and the glass cracked
Given the colors, my guess would be somewhere between 1900 and 1920's. What size is the picture?
hivel37
US Veteran
Interesting picture. Early 1900’s as already said.
Looks like a pic out of our family album, but it’s not.
Early Marlin or Winchester.
Looks like a pic out of our family album, but it’s not.
Early Marlin or Winchester.
Bill Bates
Member
If it was a mule and not a horse in the photo I would say it was one of my coworkers and the photo was taken last week, then aged in photoshop.
I can’t speak to all the tricks out there to alter/age photographs, but the more I look at this the more I think the background fencing gives this away. I think it is a modern photo made to look old-timey. Those are modern, galvanized hog panels in the background. Hog panels are not in exact rectangles like cattle panels. They start smaller at the bottom then widen out as you go up the panel. (That’s what gave me the initial impression of web-wire).
The panels stand out brightly in the photo because they are galvanized. That is fencing from the local feed store or Tractor Supply.
This also makes me think this was taken at a game farm—they are all over Texas. I bet the hog fencing is an attempt to keep in feral hogs for the farm’s cliental’s to shoot. (Or to try to keep the hogs out of feed/feed plots for the animals being hunted on the game farm).
I could also see these farms offering old-timey photos like this to the clientele.
The panels stand out brightly in the photo because they are galvanized. That is fencing from the local feed store or Tractor Supply.
This also makes me think this was taken at a game farm—they are all over Texas. I bet the hog fencing is an attempt to keep in feral hogs for the farm’s cliental’s to shoot. (Or to try to keep the hogs out of feed/feed plots for the animals being hunted on the game farm).
I could also see these farms offering old-timey photos like this to the clientele.
I can speak to this a little bit. About 10-12 years ago I was at the PA State SASS Championship and there was a vendor who made old time tintype photographs. It makes me look like I was riding with Pancho Villa.
Definitely looks like my 73 Win. rifle. Glass plate photo as stated above(cracked). Looks like the old fellow has a pipe right side of his mouth. Is the dog on a leash or is there another crack there? Horse is just a bit rough looking not slicked up so a working horse. Clothes on the rider truly do look period....and he truly looks comfortable in the saddle...not showing like a commercial picture would be staged. I would probably date the pic from 1890s -1910. But I dont know much of such things
Does it look like.......
...the picture was taken through chicken wire????
When I blow the picture up I can see it, but it looks like either the picture was taken low because it's way over his head, but it doesn't seem to cover everything.
PS: I see that welded wire mesh was invented in the early 1900s So that may at least put us in the right century.
Chicken wire was invented in 1844 so that's not much help.
Update: Ok, i figured it out. The backdrop is chicken wire with different colored papier mache stuck in it to look like trees and sky.
...the picture was taken through chicken wire????
When I blow the picture up I can see it, but it looks like either the picture was taken low because it's way over his head, but it doesn't seem to cover everything.
PS: I see that welded wire mesh was invented in the early 1900s So that may at least put us in the right century.
Chicken wire was invented in 1844 so that's not much help.
Update: Ok, i figured it out. The backdrop is chicken wire with different colored papier mache stuck in it to look like trees and sky.
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I'm still waiting for someone to date the deer laying across the saddle.
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So why's the horse have a large Phillips head screw in its chest...?
(Actually, looks like someone's computer cursor.)
On Google Images, I was looking at a bunch of "old cowboy photos." What I noticed is all are much clearer, much sharper, than the picture in this thread, lending some credence in my mind to the deliberately aged photo theory.
(Actually, looks like someone's computer cursor.)
On Google Images, I was looking at a bunch of "old cowboy photos." What I noticed is all are much clearer, much sharper, than the picture in this thread, lending some credence in my mind to the deliberately aged photo theory.
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DWalt
Member
Impossible to determine if it is a vintage original or an artificially aged more modern photo from viewing the image alone. But my opinion is that it's the former. I have examined a large number of 100+ YO photographs and that one looks real to me. It would be difficult to duplicate the age patina of an authentic old photo like that one has.
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No clue as to the time period, couldn’t imagine trying to get the deer on a horse that high even with someone helping. Tried to get a buck in the back of my pickup truck yrs ago when younger by myself, what a hassle. Larry
Thanks for those few who read all the posts! Here is what I found out about square wire fencing. It is very likely woven wire fencing.
The Early Days of Fencing
From Red Brand Fence – Fence History
As long as there have been farms with livestock, there’s been a need for fencing. Early fences were made from whatever materials were available, often stone or wood. Building fences using these materials was hard work, and after all of the effort, they would fall prey to the elements.
This all changed in the late 1880s. Peter Sommer was a hard-working Illinois man, scratching out a living from his farm and rail splitting business. He believed there had to be a better way to build fencing, so he invented a machine that could weave steel wire into fence. With this innovation, farmers could protect their property with a lightweight, weatherproof option. Soon after Sommer supplied his neighbors with this new fencing, demand skyrocketed, sending him in search of a better, more efficient way to produce woven wire fences.
Wire fencing dates from 1873
Saint Cloud Times Newspaper Article
Many history books consider wire fencing as a comparatively recent American invention, giving such dates as 1873 for the invention of single-strand barbed wire and 1883 for woven wire. Yet, Benjamin Franklin is said to have experimented with wire for enclosing cattle, hogs and sheep early in the 19th century. He read a lengthy “Account of Wire Fencing” at the Philadelphia Agricultural Society on Jan. 2, 1816.
Probably hung (roped) the buck from a tree limb to field dress. Then lowered the buck onto the horse.
Anyone notice the rider's spur on his right boot?
1sailor
Member
I have to disagree with the statement that the buttplate is wrong for a model 94. Mine was made in 1901 and the curved buttplate looks identical to the one in the photo.
SteveA
Member
Looks like a mule deer to me so that eliminates quite a bit of the US.
Ben Franklin appearing at the 1816 meeting of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society must have created quite a bit of excitement. He had been dead for a quarter of a century by 1816.
