Figure 1.--This cabinet card is a mystery to us. There is not information associated withit, not even a studio identification. We see four boys wearing skirted garments. The boys look to be about 6-9 years old. Two of the boys wear identical outfits. Presumably they are brothers. The boys seem to be too clustered in age to all be brothers. Perhaps some cousins are included. We have no idea what association has brought them together. Nor or we entirely sure just what the skirted garments were. We might seculate dresses,smocks , and kilt suits. The card also is not dated. We would guessthe portrait wastaken in the 1880s. The only hint we have as to country is tht the dealer was Portuguese. It is possible that the portrait was Portuguese, but we are not at all sure.

Most of the images we have found we have been able identify or at least make an assessment with a fair degree of reliability. Portraits taken in the 19th century when it was most common for boys to wear skirted garments were studio portraits which often identified the studio and location. This was the case for both CDVs and cabinet cards. Both rpidly disappeared in the early-20th century, but so did the convention for boys to wear skirted garments. We are archiving here the images that we are unable to identify or make an assessment with a reasobable expectation of accuracy. Of course we incourage readers to add their insights if they have any iidea about the country nvolved.

Figure 1: Skirted Group

This cabinet card is a mystery to us. There is not information associated withit, not even a studio identification. We see four boys wearing skirted garments. The boys look to be about 6-9 years old. Two of the boys wear identical outfits. Presumably they are brothers. Theboys seem to be too clustered in age to all be brothers. Perhaps some cousins are included. We have no idea what association has brought them together. Nor or we entirely sure just what the skirted garments were. We might seculate dresses,smocks , and kilt suits. The card also is not dated. We would guessthe portrait wastaken in the 1880s. The only hint we have as to country is tht the dealer was Portuguese. It is possible that the portrait was Portuguese, but we are not at all sure. The fact that they are wearing socks rathr thn long stockingd ina winter scene, does suggest a southern European country like Portugal.

Created: 7:10 PM 6/27/2016
Last updated: 7:10 PM 6/27/2016