Figure 1.-- We notice a cabinet portrait of Carl Peirce posed with his violin. The writing of his last name is a little indestinct. The studio is Busby, Mcurdy, and Fritz, an interesting ethnic mix. The studio was located in Boston. Along with the boy's name, we know that he was 8 years old. We are not sure just when it was photogrphed, but it looks like the 1880s. Carl wears a collar-buttoning velvet jacket with two rows of metal buttins. It kooks like it was a dark colar, but not black. He wears the suit with an elaborate pin-on lace collar and matching wrist trim. Along with the lace collar, Carl has a rather small collar bow. The cabinet card was an unusally large size, 7.5 by 13 inches.

We notice a cabinet portrait of Carl Peirce posed with his violin. It was an unusual large cabinet card, 7.5 by 13 inches. The writing of his last name is a little indestinct. The studio is Busby, Mcurdy, and Fritz, an interesting ethnic mix. The studio wa located in Boston. Along with the boy's name, we know that he was 8 years old. We are not sure just when it was photogrphed, but it looks like the 1880s, although we are not completely positive about thst. Carl wears a collar-buttoning velvet jacket with two rows of metal buttins. It kooks like it was a dark colar, but not black. He wears the suit with an elaborate pin-on lace collar and matching wrist trim. Along with the lace collar, Carl has a rather small collar bow. This suggests the portrait was taken in the early-80s, perhaps even before the publication of Mrs. Burnett's book, but we can not be sure about that. Perhaps mother just did not want to cover up the beautiful lace. Other than the small bow, the portrait could easily have been taken in the late 1880s. The mount style is more consistent with the 1880s than the 90s, although the shot with a large area at the top is more like a CDV compsition. The matching knee pants use the same metal buttons. The sjort cut of the jnee pants seems like 1890s styling. He akso has dark silk stockings. Also notice his ring. The color probanly mtches the suit and low-cut shoes with ribbons. We see more boys posing with their instruments, but not so many girls in the late-19th century. This is in part a sign of the growing economic affluence in the United States.

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Created: 6:08 AM 11/18/2011
Last edited: 8:08 AM 4/7/2012