Interesting Civil War Engraving from "Gutekunst Phila"

Hello All, was wondering if I could get some insights on a photo / engraving I recently purchased at a flea market in West Virginia. The engraving is 4 1/2 inches by 2 3/4 inches and features Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. As a Civil War buff, I thought it was cool and bought the picture. After I got home, I was looking at the engraving more closely wondering where / when it was produced when the light hit just right and I saw something that I hadn't noticed before. It was clearly a faded embossed stamp and so wanting to know what it said, I took a picture of stamp and zoomed in and used photo enhancement techniques to make it clearer. It obviously says "Gutekunst Phila". I looked online and found that Frederick Gutekunst was indeed a famous photographer in Philadelphia during the civil War, but I could not find any instances of an embossed stamp like the one on my engraving. Obviously, Jackson did not go to Phila to get a portrait done, so I was wondering if anyone can provide some insights into this portrait and the embossed stamp (timeframe, rarity, stamp background, etc..). ANY info would be GREATLY Appreciated! Thanks in Advance!!!

 

I'm finding references to a steel plate engraving by Johnson, Wilson & Co., New York, 1873 ('74?). It appears to be the same pose. Do you think yours is a photograph of an engraving? (Such did happen.)

https://www.granger.com/results.asp?inline=true&image=0469738&wwwflag=1&itemx=25


Might be based on this painting:
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/913hpr-a35cbdf24c5c80f/

 

Is the Gutekunst mark upside down in the frame? That might indicate that the frame was reused. It's even conceivable that there's another picture under the Jackson portrait. (all pure conjecture)

 

Thanks for the reply! Gives me some good info to work on!

 

Yup, it's upside down in the upper left corner... Seems strange to me as well (?)

 

Yeah, I have seen Stonewall Jackson engravings that are exactly the same, although most have a signature located below the engraving, but the picture and frame are so old (the engraving is held in place with NAILS on the back, I was afraid I might damage the piece if I tried to take it apart. Thanks for the insights!!!

 

This is complicated! A professional photographer like Gutekunst would have noticed the print was upside down on the mount, I think. And wouldn't want to claim it as their own to sell to anybody. The card mount is of a style from the early 20th century. Gutekunst lived until 1917 and still owned the studio almost until his death, according to this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Gutekunst

So all I can do is guess or speculate on how this print got onto the card mount. Suppose somebody owned a different photo that was on that mount, and for some reason decided to glue the engraving on top of it? And glued it upside down partly because this was not a production of the Gutekunst studio, and they just needed a nice mat for the picture? As moreotherstuff guessed, this could either be an original engraving or a photograph of the engraving. As he also mentioned, it's possible that there is still another picture underneath it.

 

Thanks FigTree, does seem weird someone would go to all the trouble as they did. I would love to see what's inside said frame, but I would be afraid to damage anything inside. Thanks for your insights!