Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows a mother with her four children. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken in the 1860s, primarily because the dress styles look more like the 60s than the 70s. The children look to be about 4-13 years old. They are not identified. There is obviously one boy and two girls. The younger child is more of a question. At first glance you would assume the child is another girl. We suspect, however, the child is a boy, probably about 4-years old. There are several reasons for thinking this. First, his hair is parted at the side like his big brother. Note his mother and sisters have center part. Second, the rss is a plaid-like print. This was popular for boys' dresses, presumably because of kilt associations. Third, unlike his sisters, he does not have a necklce. Fourth, his panatelettes seem more like pants or in British parlance, trousers. Notice the studio backdrops. America CDVs in the 1860s did not have such elaborate bakdrops. This may mean that the portrait was talen in the late-60s, but the dresses look more like the early-60s.

This CDV portrait shows a mother with her four children. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken in the 1860s, primarily because the dress styles look more like the 60s than the 70s. And the mount has sharp corners. The children look to be about 4-13 years old. They are not identified. There is obviously one boy and two girls. The younger child is more of a question. At first glance you would assume the child is another girl. We suspect, however, the child is a boy, probably about 4-years old. There are several reasons for thinking this. First, his hair is parted at the side like his big brother. Note his mother and sisters have center part. Second, the rss is a plaid-like print. This was popular for boys' dresses, presumably because of kilt associations. Third, unlike his sisters, he does not have a necklce. Fourth, his panatelettes seem more like pants or in British parlance, trousers. Notice the studio backdrops. America CDVs in the 1860s did not have such elaborate bakdrops. This may mean that the portrait was talen in the late-60s, but the dresses look more like the early-60s. The studio is not indicated on the mount. It was clearly a very competent studio, not only becaue of the backdrop, but alsp because of the wonderfully posed group. Notice how the group is unitd by body posture and hand linkiages.

Created: 10:20 AM 4/28/2017
Last updated: 10:20 AM 4/28/2017