(SLAVERY ABOLITION) Carte de visite of Shade the intelligen

Sale 2631 - Lot 76

Price Realized: $ 938

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Carte-de-visite of "Shade, the intelligent contraband." Albumen photograph, 3 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches, on original plain mount; minor wear, contemporary pencil inscription on verso. Washington, NC, 1863

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Enduring the horrors of slavery, and making the leap to freedom offered by the Union Army, would be daunting for anyone. Negotiating this with an intellectual disability would likely be yet harsher. We hope this young man found a more sympathetic landing place than with the sarcastic original owner of this carte-de-visite.

Inscribed on verso: "Shade, the intelligent contraband, came into the lines at Washington, NC, summer of 1863. He thinks he is about 3 years old." We have traced no other examples of this image.