A bearded man sits in profile on a wooden chair, holding a clarinet to his lips. He wears a long coat over a dark waistcoat and trousers. Both hands are positioned along the instrument’s keywork, with its flared bell extending over his lap.
Beside him stands a small table draped with patterned cloth. What appears to be an open music book is propped above it, though no words or notation are legible. A plain backdrop sets off the sitter and instrument against the densely patterned floor covering.
The photograph is an unmounted tintype with four clipped corners. Neither the image margins nor the dark reverse supplies a legible caption, inscription, date, or photographer’s credit. The sitter and studio remain unidentified, and the portrait alone does not establish whether he was a professional musician.
- Medium
- Tintype
- Subject
- Music
- Dimensions
- 2.18 × 3.38 in (55.4 × 85.9 mm)
- Condition
- Surface scuffing is most evident in the upper-right background, with small image-layer losses at the edges and a conspicuous pale loss on the lower trouser leg. The reverse has extensive rubbing and mottled coating loss. Otherwise the plate appears sound, with the face, hands, and instrument clearly preserved.
- Catalogue no.
- MTIN2023
