Featured Shirtless Wild Bill Hickok tintype c.1870's.. input?

Thank you.

Debora

 

They were commonly used by portrait photographers in that era. There are probably other names for them also. I like the latest picture you posted. Good find!

 

Just playing around - I am in no way qualified to do this - but I tried the following:
1. I took a photo of Hickok in his later years - and tilted it to have the face straight.

2. I marked the vertical placement of the chin, crease of the mouth, tip of nose, bottom of ears, and eyes through the irises.

3. I took the picture from the OP and adjusted the tilt of the head.

and 4. superimposed the guideline template created in (2) I sized his head to match the eye line and the chin line. You can see that when I do that the mouth and ears are slightly off and the nose is way off. His shoulders also appear to be a bit lower and wider than Hickok's. It also looks like Hickok may have had some facial scars that the other doesn't.


I know that the results I got could change if one of the subjects was tilting his head forward, if I were working with larger high res photos, and if I actually knew what I was doing beyond what I've learned from TV. So for what it's worth...

 

Thank you so much for that, now I can move on haha. This photo was buggin the hell out of me. Still though, does anyone have any idea why he'd be shirtless?

 

Google gives quite a few shirtless photos, many seem to be of healed injuries. Is that little spot on his chest a speck of dust on the photo or might it be a healed wound?

 

Well... the shirtless guy was balding at the front. Hickock appeared to have a fairly full (IMO iconic) head of hair even in his 30's. James Butler 'Wild Bill" Hickok - Kansas Memory Shirtless guy's eyes appear to be set closer together and his nose is a bit different as well.

Doesn't look like Hickock to me, however I'm no expert. If I owned the picture, I would assume it's not Hickock unless verified by 1 or more Hickock experts.

 

My initial theory was that it was in fact a medical photo. I do believe the mark on his chest is a scar and not dirt/blemish of the emulsion. I'm not getting many hits at all for shirtless tintypes, and none of the few medical ones i can find have the subject posing. Certainly no staging/backdrops ect.
Plus his cheeks are tinted.. seems like more of a glamour thing than medical documentation. At any rate, all the other shirtless ferros I've found are obviously boxers, or some type of performer.

 

Well thanks for the input everyone =] I'll hang on to these til I know more.

 

I see the similarities you point out, but I don't think so. The ears are totally different and that's usually the first thing you look at. Also, the eyes of your photo are slightly downturned on the outside. If anything, as he got older that would be more pronounced. Bill's eyes are nearly straight across. Close, but not him.

 

nice to see you again , Bev !!!

 

I'm actually NOT WORKING this week!!! We hired a wonderful young woman two years ago and she's fully trained. It's still a two person job so we advertised and found another wonderful candidate - only to have our other person give notice that she's leaving May 20th for greener pastures (medical bennies & 401K). As a small, family business we can't offer that. . So, while there's overlap, I get a week off then I'll be back to the grind. Everyone is looking for help.

 

Very interesting. The shirtless thing is unusual. I wonder if he was some sort of athlete or performer, as his arm is posed in such a way that you can see his bicep. Or, the theory that it could be medial related is also plausible. His eyes are different.