Photograph of a Seated Young Woman, 1880s
Photograph
<p>This sitter is dressed in a bodice and skirt with several distinct features that help date the photograph to the 1880s, probably the earlier part of the decade. Her bodice is constructed with both vertical and horizontal darts, and it buttons down the front with a turn-down collar. At her neck she wears an inner washable collar and a jabot that fans out across the upper bodice. One of the most interesting features of her appearance is her hairstyle with its curled bangs. Several photographs in Joan Severa’s <em>Dressed for the Photographer</em> show similar bodices and hairstyles dated to the early 1880s (Severa 1995: 392, 393, 396, 400).</p>
<p>Our sitter clearly wears a bustle style skirt, but it is difficult to date without a full-length view. In the 1870s, bustle silhouettes were created by draping the fabric across the front of the skirt, like an apron, and gathering it into the back. In 1878, Parisian couturiers slimmed down the silhouette by placing the bustle lower on the body, and pairing it with the long, narrow cuirass bodice. This silhouette lasted until 1882, when the high bustle returned to fashion with extreme dimensions achievable only with a substructure, also called a bustle.</p>
<p>The young woman in this photograph has a bustle that is not the full-blown style of the later 1880s, but neither is it the tightly-fitted skirt seen in fashion plates (see Fashion Plate 1880s, “cuirass bodice” from <em>La Mode Illustrée </em>as well as the Photograph of a Standing Woman, ca. 1880, URI 1954.25.23). While fashion plates illustrate idealized styles, photographs show how fashion was worn by average American women.<br /><br />References<br /><br />Joan Severa, <em>Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900</em>. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1995.</p>
[William E.] Potter, 171 Westminster St., Providence, R.I.
Donor: Mary and Clara Whaley
early 1880s
Ananis Rentas Vega, MS '19
URI 1956.39.06
Portrait of Bessie Palterson
Photograph
During the Victorian Era, fashions for young girls mimicked the fashion available for adult women. However, there were exceptions to this rule. Until the age of 16 or 17, girls wore short skirts that fell around the mid-calf to ankle length. Additionally, they wore their hair down, instead of up as adult would do. <br /><br />The most obvious indication of the date in which the photograph was taken are the sleeves of Bessie's dress. These large, "leg-o-mutton" style sleeves were extremely popular in the 1890's. Other features of style popular in the decade are the high, standing collar and blouson front with a suggestion of wide reverse on the bodice.<br /><br />albumen on cardboard
Adams, 219 Main Street, Pawtucket, R.I.
Charles A. Adams was listed in the Pawtucket City directory in 1894 as having a studio at this address.
Donor: Mabel Etta Streeter Perrin, Maude Ide Streeter Crabbs
ca. 1895
Christina Adamo
URI 1964.15.347
Photograph of May Hazel Cushman, 1890s
Photograph
<p>During the 1890s women began to move from domestic life into occupations such as salesclerks and typists. Dressing in separates became popular with the rise of the ready-made clothing industry, particularly shirtwaists and skirts. Charles Dana Gibson memorialized these independent women in his illustrations; the young women became known as Gibson Girls. They wore shirtwaists of cotton, linen, or silk with practical dark-colored skirts.</p>
<p>The woman in this photograph is May Hazel Cushman (1873 – 1949). She is wearing a checked shirtwaist and dark skirt with a cravat at the neck and a belt at the waist. Her hair is swept up and topped with a flower-trimmed straw hat. May married Bartholomew G. Corona, who was 19 years her senior, in 1914 when she was 41 years old. While the couple had no children together, he had two children from a previous marriage. She may have worked in some capacity before marrying, perhaps as a teacher. Her brother, Franklin Cushman, was a teacher.</p>
This photograph appears on page 97 in Joy Spanabel Emery's book <em>A History of the Paper Pattern Industry,</em> Bloomsbury Academic, 2014.<br /><br />Information on the Artistic Photo Co. studio is impressed into the cardboard matte on the front of the photograph.
Artistic Photo Co., 447 Westminster St., Prov. R.I.
Donor: Mrs. Charles D. Curtis
late 1890s
Elizabeth Beasley, MS '19
URI 1953.70.04
Cabinet Card of a Young Lady
Photograph
<p>This photograph was taken at the studio of Bundy & Stoddard, 320 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut. According to LangdonRoad.com, Bundy & Stoddard operated at that address in 1884 and 1885. That date corresponds to the fashion worn by the young woman. Her dark, two-piece ensemble consists of a close-fitting bodice (worn over a corset), and a bustle skirt. Dark colors predominated in women’s fashion during the latter part of the Victorian era.<br /><br />Cabinet card, ca. 1885</p>
Bundy & Stoddard, 320 Chapel Street, New Haven, Conn.
Donor: Maria Bag
ca. 1885
Mia Remmert
URI 2002.15.05g
Portrait of Elsie Beers
Photograph
<p>This girl, named Elsie Beers, was photographed by C. A. Blackman in Danbury, Connecticut where she lived. Elsie was listed as attending a Normal School in Providence, Rhode Island, in summer, 1909. Normal schools educated high school students to become teachers. Elsie’s dress features a high neckline, puffed sleeves, and an interesting collar. Stand-up collars and wide sleeves became popular in the 1890s, but this photo probably dates closer to 1900 given the date she was attending Normal School.<br /><br />Photograph on paper, ca. 1900</p>
C. A. Blackman, Danbury, Conn.
Donor: Maria Bag
ca. 1900
Lauren Stamps
Linda Welters, PhD
URI 2002.15.05d
Ambrotype of Mother and Baby, ca. 1860
Photograph
<p>The ambrotype was invented in England by William Henry Fox Talbot, but not perfected until 1854 by James A. Cutting. This ambrotype is held in a Union Case, patented on October 14, 1856 and on April 21, 1857. Union cases were made of a “union” of different resins and wooden fibers. The case cover has a design of bunches of grapes and grape leaves. The image is held in an oval preserver made of pressed brass.</p>
<p>The focal point is a seated woman holding an infant wearing a white dress. The woman’s dark colored dress has a large amount of fabric in the skirt suggesting that it is a hoop skirt. The bodice has a high neckline with a detachable white collar and brooch. The dropped shoulder creates a curved shoulder silhouette. The sleeve type is a pagoda style worn with plaid undersleeves. The infant’s dress also has a wide skirt.</p>
<p>The popularity of post-mortem photography during the Victorian Age raises the question about the child in this photograph. Is the child deceased? After all, the mother wears dark clothing, possibly because she is in mourning. Babies and young children who had died recently were sometimes photographed in the arms of their mothers. The eyes were sometimes painted onto the photograph to make the child look alive. The photograph was a way to preserve the memory of the child forever. Post-mortem photography was an inexpensive replacement for the mourning portrait of earlier centuries.<br /><br />References</p>
<p>Joan Severa, <em>Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900</em>. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1995.</p>
Case text: Littlefield Parsons & Co., Manufacturers of Daguerreotype Cases. <br /><br />L.P. are the sole proprietors and only legal manufacturers of Union Cases, with the embracing riveted hinge. Patented, Oct. 14, 1856 & April 21, 1857
URI purchase
ca. 1857-1867
Erika Holshoe
URI 1954.99.14
Photograph of a Young Boy
Photograph
This young man stands in a casual pose at the studio of E. L. Mowry, Elmira, N.Y. He appears t beb eight or nine years old. The outfit he wears is reminiscent of an Eton suit, with the wide collar and bow tie over a fitted jacket and short pants. Three vertical pleats, ending in the flaps of his pockets, add detail. The black, knit stockings and button shoes complete this ensemble, very typical for the later years of the 19th century.<br /><br />E.L. Mowry doesn't appear in the business directories of Elmira, NY for the years 1863, 1874 or 1882. He does appear to have worked in Elmira and in the surrounding community of Lewisburg, PA. Two other cabinet card portaits with an Elmira address have been found through online research.
E. L. Mowry, Photographer. S. Main St. South Port, Elmira, N.Y.
Donor: Anonymous
ca. 1880
Talia Sweenor
Susan J. Jerome
URI 2019.98.01
Portrait of a Young Boy
Photograph
<p>This photograph of a young boy was taken at the studio of F. Forshew of Hudson, New York. The boy is dressed in a sack suit with long trousers, an outfit suitable for an older boy. His accessories include a black bowtie and a pilot hat, which is resting on the table.</p>
<p>The carte de visite has a 2 cent tax stamp on the back that raised revenue for the Civil War.<br /><br />Carte de visite, ca. 1864 - 1866</p>
F. Forshew. Photographer. Hudson, N.Y.
Donor: Mrs. Mervin Miller
ca. 1865
Sydney Graham
URI 1956.03.213
Cabinet Card of a Young Woman, ca. 1880
Photograph
<p>This photograph was taken in Danbury, Connecticut at Folsom’s studio. The woman rests against the back of a textile-covered chair. She wears an ensemble that was fashionable from about 1878 to 1882. It consists of a lace-trimmed bodice that extends well below the waist; the skirt would have had a low bustle in the back. Her hair is worn tucked in a bun, and she sports the frizzy bangs popularized by the British actress Lily Langtry (1853-1929).<br /><br />Cabinet card, ca. 1880</p>
Folsom [photographers], Danbury, Ct.
Donor: Maria Bag
ca. 1880
Kayla Rossi
URI 2002.15.05f
Portrait of a Little Sailor Boy
Photograph
This portrait shows a little boy dressed in a sailor suit, clothing very fitting for New London, CT, in which Giles Bishop had a photography studio for many years. The town's connection to the sea, combined with the Industrial Revolution and Victorian standards and trends, are all factors that contributed to the making of this photograph.<br /><br />The sailor suit was popular for both boys and girls in the later Victorian, and Edwardian periods. This very young boy wears a skirt with his sailor's tunic, a common occurence during these times. Boys and girls typically wore black knit stockings and button boots as seen here. This outfit could have been ready-to-wear or sewn at home. New London, as a major port between New York and Boston, enjoyed the importation of goods on the water as well as by the railroad.<br /><br />The boy's hair has been cut short across the forehead but left in long ringlets at the back. As Cynthia Cooper writes, ..."boys had a full head of long ringlets, or long, wavy tresses." Frances Hodgson Burnett popularized the look with the publication of <em>Little Lord Fauntleroy</em> in 1885/86. <br /><br />Such a portrait would have been emblematic of a rising middle class and a demonstration of the family's economic status. Photography democratized the production of portraits. Giles Bishop and his son Isaac operated a photography studio in New London from the mid 1860s through the 1890s. They provided a service to the new middle class of America in an evolving society eager to try new technologies.<br /><br />albumen on cardboard<br /><br />References<br /><br />Cynthia Cooper. "The Victorian and Edwardian Eras: 1860 - 1910" in <em>The Fashion Reader</em>. 2nd ed. (New York: Bloomsbury, 2019). 69 - 83.
Giles Bishop & Son, New London, Conn.
Donor: Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Cook
ca. 1880 - 1892
Austin Rojas
URI 1961.02.08a