Figure 1.--A reader writes, "Last week, I bought a tremendous picture from Germany. It shows two children in beautiful "broderie anglaise". Are they boys or girls? It is a difficult question. But as it was in 1910, it happened that in studio photography, boys wore dresses that seemed to be nicer than boys' clothings. Of course, girls could have shorter hair and maybe the eldest here maybe is a girl even if I guess the youngest be a boy. I have many ambiguous photos like this one but I observed that girls wore earings and had some bracelets. Here both childen have necklaces. We don't see very often on boys at that time. Anyway, this photography is one of the most beautiful pictures I bought for my collection."

A reader writes, "Last week, I bought a tremendous picture from Germany. It shows two children in beautiful "broderie anglaise". Are they boys or girls? It is a difficult question. But as it was in 1910, it happened that in studio photography, boys wore dresses that seemed to be nicer than boys' clothings. Of course, girls could have shorter hair and maybe the eldest here maybe is a girl even if I guess the youngest be a boy. I have many ambiguous photos like this one but I observed that girls wore earings and had some bracelets. Here both childen have necklaces. We don't see very often on boys at that time. Anyway, this photography is one of the most beautiful pictures I bought for my collection." The portrait is a cabinet card. I would date it a little earlier than our reader, porobably the late-1890s, but of course there is no way to be sure. The clothing here is classic styles that could have been worn any time from the 1880s-1900s. Notice the plaid sashes both children are wearig. The studio was N. Schneisfurth in Elberfeld. The children look to be about 2-7 years old. Gender is an open question. We would guess the older child is a girk, primarily because boys that age would be unlikely to still be wearing pinafores and dresses. It of course is not impossible, but it would be unusual. The younger child could easily be a boy. A Gernan reader writes, "Looks like the 1890s to me. The sashes were popular in the 1880s, so it is probably the early 1890s, but as you say the fashions seen here were classic styles so it is aittle difficult to be precise as to the dating. The white card board was very popular in the 1890s. I think there is at least one girl in the picture. The short hair was especially popular in the late 1880s. I think this is an early 1890s or 1890 picture." One reason we think that this was a late-1890s portrait is the mount. It is a light colored nount in the classic style. The light-color I think rules out the 1880s. And after the turn-of-the century we see many new styles of cabinet cards. The old styles were still seen in the 1900s, especially the early-1900s, but they were much less common by the 1910s.

Created: 6:06 PM 4/16/2010
Last updated: 6:06 PM 4/16/2010