American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Featuring Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana & Historical Documents

Quarter plate portrait of a bearded man pointing to a model of a hay tedder resting on a table next to him. (Minor tarnish to edges, very light spotting to plate, heavy oxidation to mat and preserver; unsealed.) Housed in a full pressed paper case (surface wear). Subject has long, dark hair, mustache, and beard. He gestures proudly to the agricultural implement next to him.

Seed drills, utilized in the planting process, were comprised of a large "hopper," which contained the seeds, and tubes leading down to cylindrical mechanism designed to bury the seeds as they ran from the hopper to the feeding tube. Each of these parts is visible in the model shown. 

[With:] Patent documents for another invention, housed in original U.S. Patent Office envelope, including 2 sheets of drawings showing various components of the machine along with written specifications of the components and their functions. Patent issued to James Lee, 13 February 1872, recorded as patent number 123,710. Lee's invention is described as "an improvement in hay-tedders intended for use upon or in combination with horse hay-rakes, or other similar wheeled machines..." Though this is a different invention from the model shown in the image, it is possible that James Lee invented both implements, and is perhaps the gentleman shown in the photograph featured here.