Figure 1.--This Ivoryette card from Macnabb on Broadway was taken July 22, 1894. The children were Horsce, Malcomb, and Arthur. The card was also indicated to have 'Extra Finish'. Notice the whicker, that commonly suggests the late-1890s or early-1900s. The unpainted whicker is most likely to be the late-1890s. Also notice thsat this photographer did not adopt Dana's tighting techniques, but used a painted backdrop.

We are not entirely sure about the precise chronolohy of these Ivoryette cards yet. We have been uavle to find any sctual patent which would have help date the process. A reader writes, "I couldn't find any patents. The first newspaper reference at newspapers.com was 9 Jun 1890 Newport Daily News when Dana opened a studio there. Therefore, it looks like the process was a bit earlier than 1890 but I can't find out how much earlier." [Stuart] We have found some dated examples which provide a basic chronology. The examples we have found all come from the 1890s. This is helpful in dating undated cabinet cards. We have not yet noted Ivoryette cards from the 1880s, but we see quite a number during the 1890s and we think the process may have been used in the very early-1900s. We have found quite a number of examples during the 1890s. So far the age range we have confirnmed is 1893-97, but was probably prtints were priduced somewhat beyoind that range. Many of the Ivoryette portraits we have found were not taken in the Dana studios, like the portrait here. They are easily identified because they do not use Dana's background lighting techniques and facial/tirso poses. The example here, Barnes or Barnet Wolfe, is dated 1893. We note a New York portrait of three brothers which is dated 1894 (figure 1). We have an Ivortette portrait of George Stanton, Jr. dated 1896. We noted an unidentified Chicago boy who had his portrait taken in 1897. The mount is ivory with rounded corners. Mote how the studio name is impressed which makes it difficult to read. Also note the white furniture. We note wicker furniture in the 1890s and often painted wite around the turn-of-the 20th century. After Dana died in 1897, his assistant seems to have continued prroducung Ivoryette prints, but we see fewer examples after 1897 when Dana died . His death affected the number of Ivoryettes produced.

Sources

Stuart, Cindy. E-Mail message (January 15, 2021).

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Created: 9:51 AM 7/9/2006
Last updated: 6:33 PM 1/15/2021