Tintype, 2.25 x 3.5 in., with two notes affixed on verso, the first, a penciled inscription identifying the subject as Kate Fisher 1869, and a typed note that states Big Nose Kate/ Presented to me by, Wyatt Earp./ Hiram Sutterfield. No further provenance accompanies the tintype. However, the image was previously published in Gary Roberts' detailed biography entitled Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend (2011). Roberts captioned the photo as follows: "'Kate Fisher.' This is believed to be a photograph of Mary Katherine Harony, who lived under the name of Kate Fisher in St. Louis where she met Doc Holliday...The photograph was given by Wyatt Earp to Hiram Sutterfield in Colorado." Mary Katherine Harony (1850-1940), alias Kate Fisher and Katie Elder, best known as "Big Nose" Kate, was legendary gunfighter Doc Holliday's longtime lady friend. In 1869, the date noted on the tintype offered here, Kate is recorded as working as a prostitute in St. Louis. She was later fined in 1874 for working as a "sporting woman" at the establishment run by James Earp's wife, Nellie "Bessie" Earp, in Dodge City, KS. In 1876, Kate moved to Fort Griffin, TX, and one year later she met Doc Holliday. Although it is possible that Kate and Holliday married, proof of their marriage has not been uncovered. The two carried on a rather erratic and turbulent romance throughout the next several years, and during that time, she ran brothels and saloons in several frontier towns including Tombstone and Globe, Arizona Territory. Their relationship essentially came to an end in 1881 when, after a fight between the two, Holliday's enemies got Kate drunk and persuaded her to swear that he had been involved in a stagecoach robbery and murder that occurred in Tombstone. Her testimony resulted in the arrest of Holliday, but the following day, Kate recanted her story and her longtime partner was released from jail. Records indicate that the two may have met up a few times after this series of events. Following Holliday's death in 1887, Kate went on to marry an Irish blacksmith by the name of George Cummings Condition: Top right and left corners cut.
Tintype, 2.25 x 3.5 in., with two notes affixed on verso, the first, a penciled inscription identifying the subject as Kate Fisher 1869, and a typed note that states Big Nose Kate/ Presented to me by, Wyatt Earp./ Hiram Sutterfield. No further provenance accompanies the tintype. However, the image was previously published in Gary Roberts' detailed biography entitled Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend (2011). Roberts captioned the photo as follows: "'Kate Fisher.' This is believed to be a photograph of Mary Katherine Harony, who lived under the name of Kate Fisher in St. Louis where she met Doc Holliday...The photograph was given by Wyatt Earp to Hiram Sutterfield in Colorado." Mary Katherine Harony (1850-1940), alias Kate Fisher and Katie Elder, best known as "Big Nose" Kate, was legendary gunfighter Doc Holliday's longtime lady friend. In 1869, the date noted on the tintype offered here, Kate is recorded as working as a prostitute in St. Louis. She was later fined in 1874 for working as a "sporting woman" at the establishment run by James Earp's wife, Nellie "Bessie" Earp, in Dodge City, KS. In 1876, Kate moved to Fort Griffin, TX, and one year later she met Doc Holliday. Although it is possible that Kate and Holliday married, proof of their marriage has not been uncovered. The two carried on a rather erratic and turbulent romance throughout the next several years, and during that time, she ran brothels and saloons in several frontier towns including Tombstone and Globe, Arizona Territory. Their relationship essentially came to an end in 1881 when, after a fight between the two, Holliday's enemies got Kate drunk and persuaded her to swear that he had been involved in a stagecoach robbery and murder that occurred in Tombstone. Her testimony resulted in the arrest of Holliday, but the following day, Kate recanted her story and her longtime partner was released from jail. Records indicate that the two may have met up a few times after this series of events. Following Holliday's death in 1887, Kate went on to marry an Irish blacksmith by the name of George Cummings Condition: Top right and left corners cut.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
