Joseph Smith Picture LDS Mormon Art Charles Carter RARE 16 x 20 Church History For Sale

Joseph Smith picture LDS Mormon art by Charles W. Carter RARE framed Church history.

This rare picture of Joseph Smith is one of the few that have emerged over the last 20 years. This particular one was stored in an old seminary building and was given away when they decided to remodel. It’s supposedly in the original frame with the old original glass. It had a piece of wood behind it as a backing but I took that off many years ago so as to protect the paper.

Years after it was given to me I read an article about another picture similar to it that had shown up in an antique store in California. I called the gentleman who owned the antique store and he said a friend of his had acquired and brought it to him as a gift. He sent me a picture of it and it was the same picture and had the same frame as mine did.

This was before the Internet so there wasn’t a lot of information that could be be found but he told me that he had information that suggested that there had been a certain amount of these pictures done in the same size and with the same frame in the early days of the Mormon church.

About 10 years ago another picture like this was found in Provo. The picture had been hanging on the wall of a log cabin in Provo Pioneer Village in Provo Utah for decades. You can read about the article and see that particular picture at It was the same picture but not in the same frame as this one. The photo had been hanging on the wall inside an old pioneer cabin for over 50 years. The Sons of the Utah pioneers were planning an sale when one member showed it to a collector and he decided to buy it.

No photograph of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day Saints has ever surfaced. This picture supposedly is a photograph of a drawing or engraving based on an original daguerreotypetaken in 1843, supposedly of Joseph Smith. Early Utah photographer C.W. Carter created the image, probably in the 1880s. Under the picture it reads -

JOSEPH SMITH, THE PROPHET. Reproduced by the Chicago Portrait Co. by permission of Charles W. Carter. I was told that there are only a few copies of this picture available and one of them is owned by The Restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the others are with collectors.

The photograph is in great condition for its age. Ithas some water stains on it around the edges that were probably acquired while it was stored in the musty old closet. Some of the parts of the frame have been damaged probably also by water but it is still in good condition. The printmeasures 16 " x 20 " and the frame measures 29 " x 25 " with a 15 1/2 " x 19 " opening. The ornate frame is made from wood and plaster and the original glass is thick and wavy. Iwas told by an art dealer that the picture and frame could be restored but I like the water stains and the story behind it.

This is a great and rare find for a collector of early Mormon memorabilia.

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!!