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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs => Topic started by: Rapunzel on Sunday 19 May 13 16:10 BST (UK)
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I posted an enlarged copy of this ages ago and have just unearthed this - the 'original' copy - which I'm submitting for another evaluation. I'd like to have her tidied up too please.
As this lady died in 1837 I'd like to know what this copy could be of. Is it possible to tell? Is it also possible to date her at all?
Rapunzel :)
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Sorry, not very good but had a go:
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One from me
Irene
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Okay, now this one is really interesting...especially as the lady seems to have died two years before photography was invented :P :P :P :P ;D
So, are you sure 1837 is the right date? Can we have another go at this together? How about 1857....I'm offering 1857... ;D
Cheers,
China
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Not a clue as to date, Trellisick.
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I'm afraid this isn't the original either.
As China said 1850's possibly early 1860's & a copy of the original which was probably an ambrotype.The cardstock suggests mid-late 1870's.
There's been some over-sketching done which was normal for copies.So not someone who died 2 years before photography was invented although she may have been born that year.
jim
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Yes, forgot to mention that it has to be an 1870s copy. After about 1875 as Jim notes.
I'm not sure I'm seeing overpainting though. An older photo copied without a negative had to be rephotographed, resulting in loss of clarity. Retouching or overpainting was often done. Jim if you're talking about her eyes, I'm not sure the eyes are overpainted. But I wonder if she might have been tubercular, which can give the eyes a dark, sunken look. So can hepatitis. Just a thought.
Cheers,
China
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I think I see the signs of a goitre, which might also explain the slightly bulging/starey eyes?
She doesn't look well.
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That's an interesting observation Gagdet, could be a goitre. One this small shouldn't cause any life-threatening problems though. Do an image search for goitre/goiter and see some of the horrors that come up :o
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one from me..., Tommy
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Another version :-)
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Another version ... slightly less rich colour :-)
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Hi Rapunzel...One from me too.
Carol
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...and a warmer version.
Carol
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Thanks to everyone for your interest and the different restores - all appreciated.
Sorry China and Jim - a typo - she died in 1873 not 1837 :-[ . Thank you for saying it is probably a copy of an ambrotype. And as usual both of you have dated this copy spot on.
Regarding illness: I have no details of any illnesses she may have had. Gadget's comments could be right.
She died 5 days after giving birth to her third child, a daughter. Emma Jnr. It's a really tragic story. The midwife used water from the river to wash her and also gave her some to drink. She died of cholera and was the first of many cholera victims in the town. There's no mention of what, if anything, happened to the midwife. Baby Emma lived, became a teacher, never married and died aged 93. She lived in East Berlin, DDR.
Rapunzel :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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Well, what a tragic story. So many stories like it, too :'(
So this would be a memorial photo, as it's definitely after about 1875. There may not have been a photo of her as an older woman, but I applaud the choice of this one...doesn't she have a lovely face.
Baby Emma would have had a tough life in Berlin. First War with horrible privations, the rise of the Third Reich, the bombing, the blockade, the Wall. She died at the height of the Cold War. She saw some history, and that's a fact :(
Cheers,
China