Wilson, Branded Slave from New Orleans
On January 30, 1864, to fan the anti-slavery cause and promote the sale of abolitionist photographs, Harper’s Weekly published this carte de visite and three others as wood engravings. The newspaper also included stirring bibliographies of the emancipated slaves. The editors noted that Wilson Chinn was about sixty years old. His former master, Volsey B. Marmillion, a sugar planter near New Orleans, “was accustomed to brand his negroes, and Wilson has on his forehead the letters ‘V.B.M.’”
Artwork Details
- Title: Wilson, Branded Slave from New Orleans
- Artist: Charles Paxson (American, active New York, 1860s)
- Date: 1863
- Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
- Dimensions: Image: 3 5/16 × 2 1/16 in. (8.4 × 5.3 cm)
Sheet: 3 5/16 × 2 1/16 in. (8.4 × 5.3 cm)
Mount: 3 15/16 in. × 2 3/8 in. (10 × 6.1 cm)
Frame (approx): 14 x 11 in. - Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Purchase, Vital Projects Fund Inc. Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.521
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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Charles Paxson
1863–64
On loan to The Met
Multiple artists/makers
1868
Carleton E. Watkins
1863
Carleton E. Watkins
1867
Timothy H. O'Sullivan
1871
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