Figure 1.--This half plate cased Ambrotype was offered by ban English dealer, but he believes it is American. Cased Dags and Ambros were not very commion in England. Size in case: 14 x 11 cm approximately. The portrait is well posed, clearly a very competent studio. A good image of motherhood. The little boy moved ever so slightly during the exposure, but his face is not blurred. Mother's dress is dine with wide sleeves. Her daughter has a dress with a low neckline and hemline at shoe level. It is not dated, but ambros were most taken in second half of the 1850s. Thus it was probanbly taken 1855-60. The early 60s is possible.

One of the notable features of 1850s dresses is the wide sleeve treatment we see here on the mother's dress (figure 1). We see very wide sleeves that fall short of the wrist. And emerging from the sleeves are heavily blosed sleeves with tight wrist closures. This was just one way of doing the sleeves, but it seems very fashionable in the 1850s. One source suggests ghat this was a style popular in the early- and mid-1850s. Another that it was still popular at the end of the decade. We are still working on this. It is difficult to work out because so few Dags are dated. Ambros which only appeared about 1855 suggest that the style continued into the second half of the 1850s as well. We do not see this sleeve treatment to any extent in the 1860s, although our assessment has just begun. We note this sleeve traeatment also be used for boys' tunics.

Created: 7:00 AM 4/27/2018
Last updated: 7:00 AM 4/27/2018