An expert on the Utah outlaw Butch Cassidy thinks a tintype to be auctioned as a view of the bandit really isn't him.
Daniel Buck, Washington, D.C., has no doubts about the authenticity of famous views of Butch and his outlaws, the Wild Bunch, that are to be auctioned by Swann Galleries in New York City on Monday, April 3. In the auction are more than 15 lots of photos relating to Western outlaws.The Swann photos came from the collection of the late author James D. Horan, including a view of Cassidy and the Wild Bunch taken around 1901, which was printed in the Deseret News recently.
But Buck is questioning the identification of a tintype that will be auctioned by Christie's East auction gallery, New York City, on Tuesday, April 4. It is a small photo that shows a man in cowboy gear.
Buck and Anne Meadows are meticulous researchers who have teamed on more than two dozen articles on Cassidy, the best-known bandit who ever rode through Utah's back country. Their work has taken them to Bolivia, where they believe Butch and the Sundance Kid were killed in 1908.
"We, Anne Meadows and myself, do not believe the tintype is of Butch Cassidy," Buck said. "Strongly do not believe, I might add."
However, Bryce Wolkowitz, photography specialist at Christie's East, said the tintype is "believed to have been taken in the 1890s" and is expected to go for between $15,000 and $20,000.
Since the time it was taken, the Swann's photograph of the Wild Bunch has been known as Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and other members of the Wild Bunch. But until now, the Christie's tintype has been unknown.
"The only thing I can tell you about the provenance (origins) is that it came from a West Coast collector of Western memorabilia and it was purchased through a dealer on the West Coast," Wolkowitz told the Deseret News in an interview earlier this year. He said it was identified as Cassidy because of facial resemblance.
Christie's enlisted the help of specialists, and "we had it authenticated by a very reputable Washington, D.C., institution," Wolkowitz said.
Buck provided the Deseret News a copy of the tintype as well as his letter to Christie's, dated March 1.
He and Meadows compared the tintype with Cassidy's 1894 mug shot from the Wyoming state prison, as well as the famous view of the Wild Bunch.
"These are the only two photographs of Cassidy made in the United States generally recognized as authentic," he wrote. In addition, three authentic photos are known from South America, but they are of poor quality and not as valuable for the purpose of making comparisons.
"Although there is a certain resemblance between the young man in the tintype and the Cassidy of the 1894 and 1900 photos, neither Anne nor I believe that the tintype depicts the famous outlaw," Buck wrote.
"First, our gut reaction was no. The look was wrong. Doesn't work.
"Second, Cassidy's head was large for his body, his features were relatively small for his head, and his head was noticeably wider than his neck. The tintype individual has a more normal-sized head, his features are more normally proportioned, and his head is more in line with his neck."
He found other differences in the jawline, the shape of fingers, grooves on the face and ear lobes.
"Finally, the lack of any provenance for the tintype is troubling," he added. If someone cared enough to keep a tintype of the famous Cassidy, then it should be traceable to its source, according to Buck.
Contacted on Tuesday about the controversy, Wolkowitz declined to comment. He referred the Deseret News to a Christie's spokeswoman.
However, the spokeswoman said of Wolkowitz, "He is the specialist. He is the expert."
The description of the tintype in the auction gallery's catalog does not use a caveat saying the view is simply thought to be the outlaw. It says, "This extremely rare tintype of Butch Cassidy is believed to have been taken in the early to mid-1890s."
The only uncertainty reflected in that description concerns when the tintype was taken, not who it shows.
The spokeswoman said that, according to Wolkowitz, the view was authenticated by an institution using the 1894 mug shot from the Wyoming penitentiary.