Oval studio photo, with decorative border, mounted on heavy cardboard. Date:  circa 1890 – 1900. Size:  About 6 x 4″

Price:  $15.00

A gorgeous oval studio photo found in Salinas, California of a mother and daughter. I love their beautiful expressions and how the mom is looking off to her right and the baby looking into the camera. At first glance I thought the little girl’s cap was polka dot but if you enlarge the view you will see that it was made from lace, and her ruffled high-neck dress is adorable. The mom’s lace blouse is just as lovely. Mother and daughter both wear pendants, and the mom has a perfume vial attached at the waist; it is of a simple design, perhaps of crystal or glass with a sterling silver top. These scent bottles were one of the many items that could have been worn on a chatelaine (used during the 16th – 19th centuries.) Dictionary.com describes a chatelaine as  “a hook-like clasp or chain for suspending keys, trinkets, scissors, a watch, etc. worn at the waist by women.”  Check out the photos of chatelaines online, like the ones shown in this Pinterest collection listed below in sources. (Wow, absolutely incredible!) ….We can’t  forget to mention the woman’s hat in this photo, a very high affair which jaunts off to one side, and so tall that the top part was cut out of the photo. It might have included feathers, maybe ostrich, though it is a little hard to tell.

Sources:  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chatelaine

http://www.pinterest.com/mysweetbebe/chatelaines/