Work

The Evacuation of Fort Sumter — an album of sixteen cartes de visite

A small album of sixteen cartes de visite of Fort Sumter, April 1861.

An album given to a Mrs. Crawford Washington in 1862, holding sixteen cartes de visite of Fort Sumter and the harbor batteries — including Beauregard’s floating battery. The museum identifies two of the photographs, among them a study of Confederate soldiers in the rubble, as the work of Osborn’s Gallery, and notes that J. M. Osborn was a partner in Osborn & Durbec’s Southern Stereoscopic & Photographic Depot.

On the attribution

The museum assigns two of the sixteen cards to Osborn’s Gallery and attributes the rest elsewhere. The album is therefore the single best object for seeing the April 1861 attribution problem whole: two Charleston firms, one northern publisher, and sixteen cards that do not all come from the same camera.

The record

Title, as catalogedThe Evacuation of Fort Sumter
Title used hereThe Evacuation of Fort Sumter — an album of sixteen cartes de visite
Photographerno photographer identified
FirmOsborn’s Gallery
Published byE. & H. T. Anthony & Co.
AttributionDisputed
Date, as catalogedApril 1861
PlaceFort Sumter and the Charleston Harbor batteries
Controlling forceConfederate-held
Processalbumen silver prints from glass negatives
Formatalbum
DimensionsAlbum: 12.6 × 9.4 × 2.5 cm
Negative or printprints
CollectionGilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
Object number2005.100.1174.1–.16
Inscription on the mountInside the front cover, in a period hand: “These photographs were taken immediately after the evacuation of Fort Sumter by the U.S. Troops under Anderson, April 1861.”
RepositoryThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Credit lineGilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
RightsNo rights statement located
Rights advisory, verbatimNo rights statement is published in the museum record for the album as a whole; individual cards in the group are marked Public Domain.
Catalog recordhttps://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/285641
ConfidenceVerified
Last verified2026-08-30

Sources