North American Auction Company
Live Auction

Timeless Treasures: 19th C. Native, Western Photographs & French Elegance

Sat, Sep 13, 2025 11:00AM EDT
  2025-09-13 11:00:00 2025-09-13 11:00:00 America/New_York North American Auction Company North American Auction Company : Timeless Treasures: 19th C. Native, Western Photographs & French Elegance https://live.naabid.com/auctions/north-american-auction/timeless-treasures-19th-c-native-western-photographs-french-elegance-20467
Join us Saturday, September 13th at 9am MT in Bozeman, MT for Timeless Treasures: 19th C. Native, Western Photographs & French Elegance. This exceptional auction features a remarkable collection of 19th-century Native American artifacts, rare Western photography by Haynes, Huffman, and other Montana photographers, and an impressive selection of 18th-century French furniture. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to acquire historic and elegant treasures. Browse the full catalog at live.naabid.com
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Lot 209

RARE S.W. Ormsby Wolf Point, Mont. "Grave Robbery"

Estimate: $1,250 - $2,500
Starting Bid
$400

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
Featured in this lot is this boudoir card of a grave robbery with staged bones and caskets by S.W. Ormsby Wolf Point, Montana circa 19th century. Provenance: From an Ex-Museum collection out of Eastern Montana; Ex-Heritage Auction. The boudoir card features a wonderfully and professionally crafted construction that shows a jumble of dug up caskets that were pillaged and left exposed with the remains of bones staged in a macabre fashion. The front of the boudoir card is marked as follows: S.W. Ormsby - Photographer - Wolf Point, Mont. S. W. Ormsby (American, active c. 1900) maintained a photography studio at the Wolf Point Agency at the Fort Peck Assiniboine Reservation in Montana. His work is seldom encountered and at present little is known of his life and activities apart from the evidence of the relatively few photographs that have come to light. examples of a collection of 15 sold through McBride Rare Books for $19,500.00. The condition of this boudoir card is well preserved with some browning to the card consistent with age, and the photographer blacked out a section at the bottom seemingly in the negative but otherwise shows a well preserved overall condition. The measurements of this boudoir card is 5 1/4" x 8 1/2". The collective weight of this boudoir card is U4oz.

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