Featured Another one of them charcoal portrait thingies.

The only difference between this and a million others is that I know who these people are. Millboard, 16" by 20".


And I have the photo from which those portraits were taken. The card measures 4" by 2 3/8".


To show what the portraitist was working with, here's a size comparison of the two:


BTW.. the child in the lady's lap is the same aunt I mentioned in the goat cart thread.

Here's the same gent with his second wife. (Tells a tale all by itself, doesn't it?) Are those the puffiest sleeves ever?

 

Wonderful photos, MOS. I particularly like the little girl in the middle, and the way her hands are resting on her parents' arm and shoulder.

 

Thanks for sharing. I can almost feel their eyes burning through the lens.

 

Leg-o-Mutton sleeves. Dates the image to the 1890s. And second wives weren't uncommon. The health of so many women was affected by multiple pregnancies.

Debora

 

Certainly the case here. I'm told by the family member who does the genealogy stuff that there were 12 children with wife #1.

 

Probably killed her, poor thing. And do you know how many survived into adulthood?

Debora

 

very nice charcoal portrait MOS, wonderful to have the photo too

 

I've seen that in my own family history. I find it sad.

 

Blurry baby! Couldn't stay still, but the little girl did a great job

 

Fascinating. Thanks for sharing, @moreotherstuff !

 

Not yet. I can only account for 4 of them off the cuff.

 

Surprisingly leg-o-mutton sleeves had a very short window of popularity. I believe you can confidently narrow down the date to 1895-1897.

 

I don't think that moreotherstuff's portrait is one, but this does skirt the topic of the "charcoal enhanced" photograph. After years of doubt, I found the answer to a curatorial question that plagued me for years.
When examining those numerous large, usually framed “parlour” portraits so common in museum collections, I noticed that many of them, although the details seemed photographic, also appeared to be sketched with charcoal. Sometimes the charcoal would even rub off. Here is the answer...they are Both! They are commonly referred to as solar enlargements.
The article link below explains them in greater detail. Please note, there is also mention made of the common tinting embellishments we see so often.
http://resources.conservation-us.org/pmgtopics/2005-volume-eleven/11_14_Whitman.pdf

 

Thanks, @Darkwing Manor!

 

My great-grandfather and his first wife had 12 children who survived. She died and he married my great-grandmother. He was 42 and she was 18 so she was barely older than his oldest child. She had 12 more children who survived to old age.

 

Thank god for birth control!