Figure 1.--Here we do not have a lot of informatioj to fo on. It is a CDV with rounded corners and no ruling which suggests the 1870s rather than the 60s. By the 80s, DCVs has become less common. The stroped stockings are a good 1870s indicator. Unfortuntely there is no studio information so we do not jnow what state hre the portrait was taken. There look to be five older children and one younger child about 6 years old. We can not determine the gender, but the child hs short hair. Girls at the time might have short hair and we do npt have a high-quality scan. Unfortunately this makes it difficult to get a good view if the child and the hair which often provides some clues. The dress has a tiered skirt and the child wears pantalettes and striped stockings.

Here we do not have a lot of informatioj to fo on. It is a CDV with rounded corners and no ruling which suggests the 1870s rather than the 60s. By the 80s, DCVs has become less common. The stroped stockings are a good 1870s indicator. Unfortuntely there is no studio information so we do not jnow what state hre the portrait was taken. There look to be five older children and one younger child about 6 years old. We can not determine the gender, but the child hs short hair. Girls at the time might have short hair and we do npt have a high-quality scan. Unfortunately this makes it difficult to get a good view if the child and the hair which often provides some clues. The dress has a tiered skirt and the child wears pantalettes and striped stockings. A Btitish reader writes, "The youngest child looks boyish to me and a boy not yet breached. T he dress is not as long as the dresses worn by the females, although this was probably an age more than a gender convention. The stockings might be ones worn by a male child. Most of the females, except mum, are wearing white lace collars. If the 6 year old was female I think the child would also have worn a white collar. The child is sitting between mum and dad. The child's legs are crossed which I suspect would not be so if the child was female. The child seems to be copying dad who also has his legs crossed. The child has one arm resting on mums knee. The hands are clasped in a boyish pose. I think the photographer would have had the child hold a doll to avoid the uncomfortable position of the hands. Instead the photographer went for a pose that indicated a boy." I think the reader makes some good points. The only point we would take issue with is the long stockings. We are not dure about Europe, but American children, both boys and gurls, wore these striped stockings.

Created: 10:11 PM 1/27/2016
Last updated: 9:32 PM 1/28/2016