Very rare photo of the Great Layton, an African American wire balancing performer in the late 1800s and early 1900s, shown here doing his act, with his advertising banner visible on the left. I found records of performing back to the 1880s, and around 1906-1908 he was part of a the Rufus Rastus Minstrel troupe, that travelled the United States. I couldn't find much info about him after that time.
The photographer was Harrison Putney of Leavenworth, Kansas. The Amon Carter Museum of American Art has quite a few original Putney glass negatives in their collection, including several of Layton. The back is ink-signed... signature is hard to read and I cannot find another example of Layton's or Putney's signature so I'm not sure who signed it.
This is the mounted photograph I have personally ever seen for sale of this performer, taken by Putney. It was probably one of a small handful produced from the negative, possibly as part of a promo for a small show.
NOTE! This listing shows a scan of an article I found online. The clipping is shown in this listing for reference only, and the original article is not included. My scan shows the front and back of the same photo, plus the scan of the article.
Image including its mount is approximately 4.5" x 3.5".
Boxed shipping.