Figure 1.--This unidentified German child was probably photographed in the 1860s. He wears a double breasted-style jacket with what looks to be some sailor styling with a decorated skirt and panatalettes. Note the sailboat that he is holding. Image courtesy of Albumn.1900.

The German boy here looks to have been photographed on the 1860s or possibly the early 70s. While the child is unidentified, he almost certainly is a boy. He wears many classic 19th century garments, including a wide-brimmed sailor hat with dtreamers, a jacket with sailor styling, a skirt, and pantalettes. Note his sailboat, possibly his favorite toy. His hair is cit in bangs.

The Boy

The portrait here is unidentified. Of course there is no way to be sure about these images when there is no identification on the back. Therecare several reasons, howeber, why we believe this child to be a boy. The short hair is a good indicator. The plain outfit is another indicator. Note that the child does not wear a dress, but a jacket and skirt/kilt. This is another boy indicator. A girl would have been more likely to wear an actual one-piece dress. The sailboat is another boy indicator. Also notice the plain pantalettes, girls often but npt always wore fancier pantellettes. None of these indicators are absolute indicators, although the jacket/skirt rather than a dress is a very strong one. Taken together I am very comfortable saying that this child is a boy. Given the nice clothes and the fact that he is having his portrait taken in the 1860s suggests to us that he came from an affluent family. He looks to be 3-4 years of age.

The Portrait

The image quality and format of the portrait suggests the 1860s to us, although we are less familiar with German photography than American and British portrait formats. We note that there is not inscription at the bottom of the portrait indicating the name and location of the pjotographic studio. Such inscriptions were very common by the 1870s and almost always found on 1880s portraits. The photographer appears to have retouched his eyes. We have noted other German photographers doing this.

Chronology

I would guess that the image was taken in the 1860s, primarily because of the portrait quality and format.

Hair Style

This boy wars bangs.

Clothing

He wears many classic 19th century garments, including a wide-brimmed sailor hat with dtreamers, a jacket with sailor styling, a skirt, and pantalettes. He wears a sailor hat with a moderate brim. Note the streamers hanging down at the back. His jacket has a hint of sailor styling with double breasted styling and what may be a back flap. His skirt is decorated, but the inage quality makes it difficult to make out details. He looks to have a sash at his right side. He wears plain, but decorated pantalettes with white socks. His high-top shoes have scalloped tops.

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Created: November 20, 2002
Last updated: November 20, 2002