Figure 1.-- Here we see an American boy named Morgan in 1906. It was one of a pair of portraits. The boys are pictured in oval framed cabinet cards. They are are brothers Bob (almost 7 years old) and Morgan (8 years old). Unfortunately we do not have their last names. The oval-shaped photos are pasted onto an embossed mat with a framed oval space. The cards measure 5" by 7". Bob sports an emacuate white Eton collar nd perhaps a tunic, it is not clear just what his top is, it may be a felt material. Morgan wears a plain sailor blouse with no stripe detailing, but a matching dickey with some kind of sailor emnblem. He wears some kind of white white underneath. Click on the image to see Bob's portrait.

We also note some oval format cabinet caards. They were only a small fraction of the number of rectangular cards, but we do see a number of them. They were always oval, never sqaare. Andt they were an option only for cabinet cards not CDVs. Here the same reson that cabinet cards were rectagular and not square explains why these mat cards were oval and not circular--the proportions of the human body. Many of the same trends in card charactristics apply to the oval formats, but we thought it useful to assess the chronological trends. An understanding of oval format trends might be helpful in dating these cards. Almost all of the oval portraits were torso shots. Our initial assessment is that the oval sdhots were more common after the turn of the 20th century. But this is only a preliminary assessment. We have not yet begun to assess the chronology of these oval cabinet cards. We see them in both the 19th and 20th century. We note quite a few in the 1900s decade. The example here was dated 1906 (figure 1). Of course after the 1900s decade, cabinet cards in generak rapidly declined in popularity.

Prevalence

We also note some oval format cabinet caards. They were only a small fraction of the number of rectangular cards, but we do see a number of them. They must have been popular with consumers.

Geometry

These geometric cardy were always oval, never square or rectangular. And they were an option only for cabinet cards not CDVs. Here the same reson that cabinet cards were rectagular and not square explains why these mat cards were oval and not circular--the proportions of the human body. Cicles could deal with just the head/face, but torso or full body shots required the oval mat. And this is what most climebts oreferred.

Chronology

Many of the same trends in card charactristics apply to the oval formats, but we thought it useful to assess the chronological trends. An understanding of oval format trends might be helpful in dating these cards. Almost all of the oval portraits were torso shots. Our initial assessment is that these oval shots were more common after the turn of the 20th century. But this is only a preliminary assessment. We have not yet begun to assess the chronology of these oval cabinet cards. We see them in both the 19th and 20th century. We are not yet sure about decade trends. White we have noted 19th century ovl portraits, most wee have so far found are not dated. We note quite a few in the 1900s decade for some reason. The example here was dated 1906 (figure 1). Of course after the 1900s decade, cabinet cards in generak rapidly declined in popularity.

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Created: 7:31 PM 5/16/2022
Last updated: 12:47 PM 1/12/2024