Work

An unidentified Confederate soldier, by Quinby & Co.

A hand-colored ambrotype of a Confederate soldier with a musket and revolver.

A soldier with a musket and a revolver, posed against a painted backdrop of people, a fence and trees. The Library devised the title; what the object itself carries is the gallery’s name.

This is the ordinary business of a Charleston gallery in wartime, and it is the reason the backmark matters: the sitter is unidentified and probably always will be, but the firm, the city and the date range are all recoverable from the case.

The repository’s notes

Title devised by Library staff. Access advisory: use digital images; original served only by appointment because material requires special handling.

The record

Title, as cataloged[Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform with musket and revolver in front of painted backdrop showing people, fence, and trees] / Quinby & Co., artists, Charleston, S.C.
Title used hereAn unidentified Confederate soldier, by Quinby & Co.
Photographerno photographer identified
FirmQuinby & Co.
AttributionVerified
Date, as cataloged[Charleston, S.C.] : [Quinby & Co., artists], [between 1861 and 1865]
PlaceCharleston
Controlling forceConfederate
Processhand-colored ambrotype
Formatsixth-plate ambrotype in case
Dimensionsplate 82 x 70 mm; case 92 x 80 mm
CollectionAmbrotype/Tintype Filing Series
Call numberAMB/TIN no. 3791 [P&P]
Reproduction numberLC-DIG-ppmsca-94948 (digital file from original)
Inscription on the mountQuinby & Co., artists, Charleston, S.C.
RepositoryLibrary of Congress
Credit lineLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
RightsNo known restrictions on publication
Rights advisory, verbatimNo known restrictions on publication.
Catalog recordhttps://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2024633532/
ConfidenceVerified
Last verified2026-08-30

Sources