Figure 1.-- This cabinet card portrait shows what we think is a comfortable middle-class family probably living in Surbiton. This is a neighborhood of south-west London within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames along the Thames. We see a middle-age mother and father along with four children, two boys and two girls, who look to be about 3-14 years old. The portrait is undated, but we are fairly confident it was taken in 1890. The girls wear white dresses. The older girl has a colored waist sash. The boys about 10-14 years old wear sailor blouses with Eton collars. This is unusual, especiall for the older boy. Sailor suits in the 1890s were mostly worn by younger boys. This suggests to us that the boys did not attend private schools.

This cabinet card portrait shows what we think is a comfortabl middle-class family probably living in Surbiton. This is a neighborhood of south-west London within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames along the Thames. We see a middle-age mother and father along with four children, two boys and two girls, who look to be about 3-14 years old. The portrait is undated, but we are fairly confident it was taken in 1890, although 1891-92 is possible. We think it was taken in 1890 because on the back are notifications of awards won in 1887, 1888, and 1889. If they had won an award in 1890, certainly it would have been included. And we do not think that they would continue to report these awards very long after they were won as this would suggest that standards had declines. In addition, mother's dress does not have the puffed sleeves we see at mid-decade. The girls wear white dresses. The older girl has a colored waist sash. The boys about 10-14 years old wear sailor blouses with Eton collars. This is unusual, especiall for the older boy. Sailor suits in the 1890s were mostly worn by younger British boys. We see younger teens wearing sailor suits on the Continent, but this was less true in Britain. We believe a factor here is the uniforms that boys in private schools wore. These schools helped set standards and fashions for boyswear. This suggests to us that the boys did not attend private schools. The Royal Hospital School is a possibility. The studio was G.T. Jones in Surbiton. The studio seems a prestigious one with all kinds of Britih and French royalty, including Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales.

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Created: 5:56 AM 2/13/2018
Last updated: 5:56 AM 2/13/2018