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An unusual and deeply compelling late-19th-century cabinet card portrait of an unidentified elderly gentleman seated in an ornate fringed studio chair and holding a walking cane.
His markedly relaxed or collapsed posture is highly atypical for a formal Victorian studio portrait. His torso reclines into the chair, his lower body appears to have slipped forward, his legs rest apart, his right hand remains curled closed upon his lap, and his left hand is positioned around the cane. His eyes are directed downward and away rather than engaging with the camera.
The carefully arranged setting includes a painted floral backdrop, drapery, patterned carpeting, and architectural studio props. His hat sits in the floor next to him. Because professional portraits were paid occasions during which male sitters were generally posed upright and formally, his uncharacteristic posture is especially noteworthy.
Measurements: 4” x 2.5”
The photograph may depict a living gentleman who was seriously ill, infirm, physically disabled, or simply unable to maintain a conventional pose. However, the possibility that this is a post-mortem portrait cannot be excluded. No claim of confirmed post-mortem identification is made; the photograph is offered for collectors to study and interpret.
Back is completely blank, with no photographer’s imprint, location, name, or identifying inscription.
Antique condition with fading, foxing and speckling, scratches, surface wear, soiling, and wear around the mount’s edges and corners. Please examine all photographs carefully for the complete condition and unusual physical details.
A remarkable image for a collector of Victorian photography, medical history, mourning traditions, post-mortem photography or enigmatic historical portraits.
Antique photographs. Human beings behaving historically.
And if we don’t know your name… well, you should have written it on the back.
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