Figure 1.--This charming snapshot shows the three of the four sons of Alfred Corning Clark, the famous collector of art. Alfred had four sons, Edward, Ambrose, Sterling, and Stephen, the last three of whom appear in this photograph, taken at the family estate in Cooperstown, New York, in 1887. The boys are posing with their pony and faithful dog, I would guess a Jack Russel. Despite the fancy clothes, you just know the good times that these boys and their pooch must have gotten up to.

Alfred Corning Clark Family (United States, 1887)

This charming snapshot shows the three of the four sons of Alfred Corning Clark (1844-96), the famous collector of art. Alfred had four sons, Edward, Ambrose, Sterling, and Stephen, the last three of whom appear in this photograph, taken at the family estate in Cooperstown, New York, in 1887. I thought the date might be a little later, but a HBC reader assures us that the date is definitely 1887. We have the birth dates of several of the boys and the dates make perfect sense. Ambrose is about 11, Sterling about 10, and Stephen about 6 years old. The boys' grandfather was the founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Co. and became immensely rich so the boys were from a wealthy family. The two younger boys, Sterling and Stephen, shared a passion for art and institution-building inherited from their father. Sterling built the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass. Stephen became a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and also of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He left important paintings to the Met and to Yale University.

Clark Family

This charming snapshot shows the three of the four sons of Alfred Corning Clark (1844-96), the famous collector of art. Alfred had four sons, Edward, Ambrose, Sterling, and Stephen, the last three of whom appear in this photograph. Ambrose is about 11, Sterling about 10, and Stephen about 6 years old.

Location

The photograph here was taken at the family estate in Cooperstown, New York (figure 1).

Chronology

The photograph was taken in 1887. I thought the date might be a little later, but a HBC reader assures us that the date is definitely 1887. We have the birth dates of several of the boys and the dates make perfect sense.

Isaac Merritt Singer (1811-75)

The boys' maternal grandfather was Isaac Merritt Singer, the inventor of the first practical sewing machine and founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Co. Singer thus played a major role in the history of fashion and clothing. He became immensely rich so the boys were from a wealthy family. The social standing, however, was impaired by their grandfathers marital history. He was still married to his first wife when he married his second life. He had quite a few children, I believe 18 in all. I am not sure about the total number of grand children. Singer moved to Europe, living first in France, but was forced to flee the Franco Prussian War (1870-71). He moved across the Channel to Devon in England. The Clark family may have lived in Cooperstown in part because of the difficulty in entering New York society. A reader tells us, "Just wanted to point out that the Clark boys are not actually related to Isaac Singer. Their grandfather was the lawyer and business partner of Mr. Singer."

Art History

Not only was their father an important art collector, but two of the boys also played a role in American art history. The two younger boys, Sterling and Stephen, shared a passion for art and institution-building inherited from their father. Sterling built the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Stephen became a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and also of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He left important paintings to the Met and to Yale University.

Clothing

The boys all wear hats, providing us an insight into popular headwear for boys. Notice the large hat bands on the boaters. They also have elegant knee pants suits with black long stockings. Notice the Eton collars with moderate-sized floppy bows. The photograph was taken during the height of the Fauntleroy craze. It is a good reminder that even among the well-to-do that not all families, even wealthy families, went in for such finery. One unanswered question here is just what the suits here were. It seems to us that these outfits may have not been their best party clothes, but were probably not play clothes either. A reader writes, "I agree that the boys are very dressed up for the portrait. But we must remember that these kids were part of the American aristocracy and had appearances to keep up. Also we sometimes forget that children, especially upper-class children such as these, were expected to be pretty dressed up much of the time--and certainly when someone was taking their picture. I would imagine that they wore similar clothes, perhaps without the hats, to school, undoubtedly a private school. At least two of these kids went on to Yale." School is another interesting question. I would guess that these boys may have had a tutor and may have not attended a school until later when they might have been sent away to boarding school. Thus we just do not know to the extent they were dressed up or simplypictured in their every day clothes. Our reader is certainly correct that children at the time did wear much more formal clothes than e do today. We are not sure though that boys wore Eton collars when playing with their dog and pony.

Photography

I am not positive about the extent to which the boys dressed up for the photograph. The photograph was taken in 1887, before the Kodak Brownie was invented and casual, candid photography became popular. The image here is clearely posed and the boys may have dressed up a bit for the photograph. We are not sure if their father had a photographer come out to the estate or if he was an amateur photographer himself. People with money could fford to dable in photography. The boys are posing with their pony and faithful dog, I would guess a Jack Russel. Despite the fancy clothes, you just know the good times that these boys and their pooch must have gotten up to.

Sources

Berry, Regina. E-mail message, June 29, 2011.







HBC







Navigate Related HBC Pages:
[Return to the Main ordinary bio alpahbetica C page]
[Return to the Main ordinary bio chronological 1880s page ]
[Return to the Main ordinary bio chronological 20th century page ]
[Headwear] [Bangs] [Eton collars] [Sports collars] [Collar bows] [Knickers] [Long stockings] [Pet dogs]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]




Created: 10:24 PM 5/21/2007
Last edited: 5:25 AM 6/29/2011