Signed carte-de-visite portrait of photographer James Presley Ball

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

An albumen print, carte-de-visite studio portrait of early Black photographer James Presley Ball. The photograph depicts Ball in his own studio, standing on diamond-patterned carpet, his proper right hand resting atop an ornately carved pedestal. He is turned slightly away from the camera, looking straight ahead. He wears a dark frock coat and trousers and holds a stove pipe top hat in his proper left hand, which rests against his left hip. The print is on an off-white card mount with a double gilt border. There are no marks or inscriptions on the recto; it is inscribed on the verso [Respectfully / J.P. Ball].

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