General Melancthon S. Wade
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Curationist Object DescriptionThis striking mid‑19th‑century portrait captures Union General Melancthon S. Wade in full uniform. Renowned African‑American photographer and abolitionist James Presley Ball produced this salted‑paper print from a glass negative. It exemplifies his technical mastery and artistic refinement.
Ball, born a free Black man in Virginia, learned daguerreotype techniques from John B. Bailey and established his influential “Ball's Great Daguerrean Gallery of the West” in Cincinnati by 1853. The gallery became a convergence of abolitionist and cultural activity, featuring portraits of prominent figures such as Frederick Douglass, Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens, and Civil War officers.
The salted‑paper technique offered softer tonalities compared to the earlier daguerreotype. Ball’s images went beyond aesthetics - they asserted dignity and identity for Black Americans amid the Civil War era.
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