English Dresses: Unidentified Children--Image 3 Southport
Figure 1.--This is another CDV portait with no date or subject identification. CDVs persisted in England and other Eurooeans countries linger than in America. We would guess this portatit was taken in the late-1870s or early-80s, but we are not at all sure. We are sure that it was not taken in the 1860s or early-70s. At first glance the child looks like a girl and some girls had short hair like this. The child looks to be about 6 years old. Especially interesting are the nooks, which usually signify a boy.
This is another CDV portait with no date or subject identification. CDVs persisted in England and other Eurooeans countries linger than in America. We would guess this portatit was taken in the late-1870s or early-80s, but we are not at all sure. We are sure that it was not taken in the 1860s or early-70s. At first glance the child looks like a girl and some girls had short hair like this. The child looks to be about 6 years old. It was beconing less common for boys this age to wear dresses. As the hair was done in bangs we can not see the part which often provides gender information. What makes this portrait esoecually interesting are the books. Generally speaking, books mean a boy. At the time, education beyond basic raeading and witing was primarily for boys. The general feeling in the 19th century was that too much education was not good for girls, it harmed their marital prospects. It was believed that men wanted acconplished, not highly educated womem. By accomplised it was meant women with musical, domestic, and social skills. That was probably true of a lot of men at the time, but not all. The books on the table suggest either the child is a boy or a girl with parents who had progressive views on educating girls. The only thing that we know for sure is that the portrait was taken in the studio of Lambert Partington in Southport. This is a large seaside town in Merseyside, England. Merseyside refers to the area around the Mersey Estuary--today meaning essentially Liverpool. Southport for some reason is essentially northern Liverpool.
