Photographic crayon portrait of Squire May
National Museum of African American History and Culture

Photographic crayon portrait of Squire May

Unidentified · late 19th century

emulsion, charcoal black, and pigment on fiberboard
National Museum of African American History and Culture
CC0 — Public Domain
National Museum of African American History and Culture

A black-and-white photographic crayon portrait of Squire May on thin fiberboard. He wears a dark colored three-piece suit, complete with jacket, vest, white collared shirt, and black bowtie. His hair has turned white with age and he has a full beard and mustache. The artist used charcoal and gray pastel, the former for enhancing and darkening and the latter for highlighting the photographic image. When placed alongside 2012.42.16.1, the two images show that it was at one time a single image with the man on the left and the woman on the right. Their shoulders overlap the central border and the lines meet up perfectly, as do scratch marks on the verso.

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