Featured Cabinet photo - little boy & his hound dog - need help with dating please.

I got this wonderful photo in a box lot on Friday. I tried searching for this photographer but came up empty.

It is 6 1/2" by 4 1/4".



Thanks for any & all advice or opinions!!

 

Love it! Photo folks will get here in time.

 

I'd say 1870's, before they got fancy with cut edges, gold accents, and large graphical backmarks.

https://www.thoughtco.com/identifying-and-dating-cabinet-card-1422271

 

Wilfred Bowler. Hope this snippet will open for you. Kimball was another successful photographer:

https://books.google.com/books?id=f8x2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT53&lpg=PT53&dq=photography+studio+Maine+"Bowler"&source=bl&ots=cWm-YRYGB8&sig=ACfU3U3mZe7pWFcmCir8VSh_RV5JxsayIw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjsrr6bxpXkAhXFuFkKHcRhBcIQ6AEwDXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=photography studio Maine "Bowler"&f=false

 

LOVE the photo !!! ... Joy.

 

Close. Turn of the 20th century.

 

Seems awfully plain for that late. Is there anything on the back?

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=Q...-AKHdDWChQQ6AEwC3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

In 1899 he was recorded as a photographer, crayon artist & seemingly a seller of picture frames.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=x...-AKHdDWChQQ6AEwEHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

By 1913 he had become an optometrist. Bet he was in interesting guy.

 

An image search turns up a horde of cricketer bowlers.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-C...LLIAMSON-BETHEL-MAINE-BY-BOWLER-/264264634217 here's what i'd expect from a late 1800s card. gold lettering and a color besides tan/off white. I've not found info on when exactly he started yet.

 

You can approximate the period when he was active as a photographer in Bethel from the info available at the first link I posted. Probably took over the vacated studio sometime late 1896 or early 1897; he sold it in early 1900.

 

October 1897 - "Wilfred Bowler of Palermo has purchased R. W. Glidden’s photograph gallery"

Something still seems odd, but oh well.

 

I suppose it's a rarity in that he seems to have had the studio in Bethel for only about 2 years, so can't be so many other examples of his work around.

Glidden took over the studio of the long established Kimball, who was quite an active figure in the town. My source simply says he didn't stay long; I had to guess at how long it was. Bowler moved in about a year later than I conjectured.

 

The back has no marks of any king & is just a plain white.

Yes it did open & thank you for finding it for me.

When I did a search all I found was mention of his brother & the newspaper.

Maybe he decided that the subject matter would look odd with a fancy border.

Thank you @Bronwen & @Kronos for all of your help!!

I think the image is just charming & that must have have been a very smart, well behaved dog to sit still for that long.

 

A studio prop, not property of the boy?

 

You don't think it is a real dog?

 

I think it's a real dog, but maybe one trained to sit still & not be flummoxed by every little boy brought in by his mother for a birthday portrait. The canine equivalent of a rattan chair.

Looking again, it is on the needed long chain & Bowler has someplace to anchor the other end. Suppose another explanation is that Bowler made child & dog photos a special service he offered & you could get kid & dog for one price.

 

Not sure if this is duplicate information...
https://books.google.com/books?id=f...hotographer wilfred bowler bethel me&f=false

 

The boy's bib overalls would support an early 1900s date at the earliest.

"In the early 1900s, OshKosh B'Gosh began selling bib overalls in children's sizes so kids could dress like their dads. Once these kid-size overalls were featured in the Miles Kimball catalog, sales went through the roof."
https://oureverydaylife.com/history-of-bib-overalls-12183537.html

I have seen many photos of this vintage with people posing with their dogs. Photographic processes were fast enough by this time to capture well behaved animals.