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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs => Topic started by: suziet on Saturday 26 January 08 18:33 GMT (UK)
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Hi
Another photo for dating, this is Mary Bennett born about 1809.
Thanks in advance.
Sue
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Fab photo. I have an 1860's photo where the women are wearing big skirts and those sort of sloping shoulders
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Hi Sue, just seen this lovely old photo. I'm thinking possibly as far back as late 1850s...the subject is far from the camera as they didn't have lenses capable of doing good closeup portraits then...it could be as late as 1865 but I'm thinking around 1860 is a more reasonable guess, definitely very early 1860s. The style of bodice with the dropped shoulder, the hairstyle covering the ears, and bell sleeves and the vee-shape to the whole thing...very early 1860s. The reason I can't put it any earlier is there are no photos to caompare it to...commercial photography began in 1839 but photos from before about 1860 as hard to find. So, it's just a guess but this photo has a very old "feel" to it indeed. Oh, and the book she is holding is supposed to denote literacy.
At any rate, bumping it back up the thread may bring someone else along for an opinion ;D
Cheers,
China
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Just agreeing with and adding to China's estimate, the lady's hair is covering her ears, and this was a style popular in the early 1860s - around 1865 hair started to be pulled up a bit higher, gradually revealing more of the ears until by 1870 the whole ear was on show.
The style of portrait and the clothing worn all point to early 1860s. No earlier than 1860 because these photographs were not around before that!
Cheers
Prue
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Oh, right, they'd be ambrotypes, then?
C
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THey would indeed, China ;D
Or calotypes or daguerreotypes...
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Thanks for the comments. I guess she would have been about 50 years old. Would be interested in comments. Here is her husband taken around the same time I presume......?
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What a fabulous pair of photos...you are so lucky to have them, very unusual.
See the way the floor in the 2nd photo seems to curve a little, not evident in the 1st because of the skirt...I'm thinking this may be because of poor lens quality...Prue would be the one who could tell you all about that sort of thing.
I love old maps that are wonky and distorted, so this feature of the picture adds a dimension of antiquity, to me. More interesting than an old picture that doesn't have any flaws :D
Cheers,
C
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I don't have the originals unfortunately, but at least I have a copy thanks to my 1st cousin 4x removed!
I think they were taken by their son, Edward Bennett Jenkinson I think he was a keen amateur........
I hadn't noticed the curve in the floor either! What do you think he has round his neck???
Sue
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The top the lady is wearing looks a bit loose, the body, I know the sleeves are loose, that doesn't seem right for a Victorian lady... Was she in an 'interesting condition?'
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Not sure what you mean by 'interesting condition'? I know that they both died in 1881.
Sue
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A Victorian lady was in an 'interesting condition' when she was expecting, suziet.
I just thought that the body part of her top looked a little larger than I would have expected.
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I think it's a style of jacket that seems to have been in fashion in the 1850s - perhaps being a more mature lady she was hanging on to a style - and maybe a treasured item of clothing? - from her younger days.
Unless their son owned a studio setup, I doubt these were taken by an amateur - they have the look of a professional photographer's studio about them, with the usual props of curtain, chair and random column/plinth on show :)
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I have some photos of engravings done in the 50's & 60's. The lady's jacket was 'the in thing' late 50's. underneath she would have worn a very tight corset with probably a skirt & blouse. About 1862 the same jacket was longer and tight fitting, the sleeves were actually cut higher on the inner seam, giving a deep V shape. But given their age, she was probably wearing the earlier version, as Prue notes.
The man's neck attire is a dark stock (neck band, bow tie) that and the height and colour of his topper put him about 1862 as well.
cheers,
Leonie.
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Here's another jacket that's even looser:
http://www.cartes.fsnet.co.uk/date/a1863.htm
Cheers,
C
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Those are just like my engraving photos China.
Maybe someone famous was in an "interesting condition" that year ;D
Cheers,
Leonie.
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Well...on that subject, with no reliable birth control available, and a baby along every two years on the average, it's a pretty good bet that about 50% of the fertile female population was in an "interesting condition" in any given year...
Now, that's a thought :P :P :P
Cheers,
C
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Right, that's that sorted then, was just wondering.
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Suziet, are you going to ask for a bit of a restore on these photos? They're not in bad shape, though, but could probably benefit from a clean. You might want to repost them in a new thread for attention...make sure they are scanned at 300-600dpi, and you will have to rename the files
I just think they are an amazing pair of photos.
Cheers,
C