Portrait of a Little Sailor Boy

1961.02.08a.jpg
1961.02.08aclose.jpg

Subject

Photograph

Title

Portrait of a Little Sailor Boy

Date

ca. 1880 - 1892

Description

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.

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.

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 Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1885/86. 

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.

albumen on cardboard

References

Cynthia Cooper. "The Victorian and Edwardian Eras: 1860 - 1910" in The Fashion Reader. 2nd ed. (New York: Bloomsbury, 2019). 69 - 83.

Source

Donor: Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Cook

Identifier

URI 1961.02.08a

Contributor

Austin Rojas

Creator

Giles Bishop & Son, New London, Conn.

Medium

albumen on cardboard

Citation

Giles Bishop & Son, New London, Conn., “Portrait of a Little Sailor Boy,” Historic Textile and Costume Collection, accessed March 29, 2024, https://uritextilecollection.omeka.net/items/show/273.