Figure 1.-- This cabinet card portrait shows the Reed family from Shelburne, Ontario. There are two childen about 3-5 years old. The boy wears a clasic Fauntleroy suit. The two young children are a little surprising as we do not see a young couple. We see five adults. The men presumably are father and grandfather. The three women are likely grandmother, mother, and an aunt, perhaps an unmarried aunts. The portrait is undated. It is clearly taken at the turn of the century (1895-1905), however refining it further is complicated. The big puff sleeves of the women look to us about 1895, a perhaps a few years later. The mount, however, is one of the new styles which generally date after the turn of the century.

This cabinet card portrait shows the Reed family from Shelburne, Ontario. There are two childen about 3-5 years old. The boy wears a clasic Fauntleroy suit. The two young children are a little surprising as we do not see a young couple. We see five adults. The men presumably are father and grandfather. The three women are likely grandmother, mother, and an aunt, perhaps an unmarried aunts. The portrait is undated. It is clearly taken at the turn of the century (1895-1905), but refining it further is complicated. The big puff sleeves of the women look to us about 1895, a perhaps a few years later. The mount, however, is one of the new styles which generally date after the turn of the century. There are interesting aspect to this portrait. One is the Union Jack flag. Canada at the time was a Doninion well on its way to becoming self governing. Canadian nationalism was not yet well established. Many English speaking Canadian families still looked on Britain as the mother country. Except for the flag, you could not tell that this was not an American family. The sleigh of course suggests a northerly location.

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Created: 4:55 PM 7/1/2019
Last updated: 4:55 PM 7/1/2019