ART [Signed] THE GROUND IN FRONT OF BATTERY ROBINETTE (original drawing) Taber, Isaac Walton [Near Fine]

Description

The image is 4 5/8 inches by 7 1/4 inches on artist board measuring 14 1/2 inches by 12 1/4 inches. Original ink drawing by Walton Taber (1857-1933), after a post-battle photograph. The scene shows dead Confederate soldiers in front of Battery Robinette on October 5, 1862, the morning after the battle at Corinth, Mississippi. Civil War historians J. Matthew Gallman and Gary W. Gallagher attributed the photograph to Ohio born and Corinth based photographer George Washington Armistead . However, the Library of Congress has a virtually identical photographic negative that is attributed to Nicholas D. Brown. Although the photographer's identity remains uncertain, it is clear that the drawing is by Walton Taber and is signed by him in the lower left corner of the image. Taber did the drawing for the Century Company, who published it on page 751 of volume 2 of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. This drawing, along with others by Taber that were included in the Century Collection of Civil War Art, was auctioned by Christie's in New York in 1988. Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Taber was one of the most important American illustrators during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His pen and ink drawings provided the Century Company almost 250 illustrations for Battles and Leaders. The drawing offered here is in near fine condition: clean and bright on artist board that is lightly and uniformly toned on the recto; there is some minor soiling on the verso, along with notations made by Century editors and a later framer. The drawing is now archivally matted and ready for a 16"" by 16"" frame. Size: 4 5/8"" by 7 1/4""