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This cabinet card is marked 'The Orton children' that mnay be a groups of enterainrers rather than swritten in the portrait by a family member. The portrait is mnot dated but looks like the 1880s, in part because of the mount. The boy is wearing leather leggings. You can see straps on the back, probably part of clasp closures.
A reader adds, " Did you notice the clasps under the shoe to keep the leggings on the shoe? Also the boy's cut away jacket may be leather too. It seems both shiny like leather and stiff as well. He is also wearing a vest of some sort under the Eton style cut-away jacket. He is also wearing what I believe maybe a watch fob dangling out of his breast pocket. The silk or satin vest contrasts nicely with both the jacket and the ruffled blouse. The placket is open near the bottom so that the string that pulls the blouse together at the bottom hem appears visible. [HBC: This is a useful view of how the blouses were constructed which is rarely seen.] The cuffs are probably (not certain) detachable and have lace or scalloped ruffles to them. They match the front placket of the blouse. I think the collar is rather plain but maybe it too has some embroidery. It is hard to tell but it may or may not be an exact match to the cuffs. My guess is that it is but the lighting is such I cannot be certain. The knee pants are side opening and tuck into the leggings so I cannot be certain if they have the decorative side buttons. The jockey cap looks exciting as does his riding crop. Hi hair is worn in bangs in the front and almost shoulder length on the sides. They are not done in ringlert curls. Long hair not done in ringlets rather rare in America at the time. My guess is the boy is around 8 years old."
Our reader notes some useful details about thr boy's outfits. We think the boy is wearing a standard Fauntlroy blouse, and not detchabkle collars and cuffs. We are not sure about the jacket. It is definitely not a standard cloth jacket. A leather jacket would be unusual, but it could well be. Age 8 years seems a easonbl assessmebnt.
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