This product 1873 Eli Bowen Legless Acrobat Wife Child Family CDV Palmer Clayton PRISTINEDescriptionExceptional circa 1873 original family CDV of Eli Bowen (1844–1924), the celebrated “Legless Acrobat,” photographed with his wife and child.This is an apparently previously unseen pose of Bowen and his family. Another family portrait by the same photographers is known, but it is a different composition and survives in considerably poorer condition.The verso bears the original printed identification:“Eli Bowen, Wife and Child.”and the studio imprint:PALMER & CLAYTON, Photographers, Fort Wayne, Ind.What makes this photograph particularly compelling is that it is not the typical commercial sideshow portrait of Bowen as a performer. It is an intimate family portrait showing Bowen as husband and father, photographed in the Midwest near his native Ohio.CONDITION: PRISTINE.
The CDV is in extraordinarily well-preserved condition for a photograph approximately 150 years old. The mount, photograph, printed identification and Palmer & Clayton backmark remain exceptionally clean and strong. Please examine the photographs for condition.RARITY: Extensive searching has so far failed to locate another example of this particular image/pose. It should therefore be described as an apparently previously unseen or exceptionally rare Bowen family portrait, pending discovery of another example.Provenance: Purchased at Bonhams sale.A remarkable survivor relating to 19th-century American circus and sideshow history, disability history, Victorian photography and the personal life of one of the era’s most famous performers.Original photograph — not a reproduction. is an antique single piece cabinet card photograph from the late 19th
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