Featured Dating old Chinese American photo in case

(This polka-dot adventure has been a very interesting rabbit hole for me!)

HERE is an internet archive of Godey's Lady's Books from 1857... you could try looking through them to see what that particular scarf looked like and if it was anything like the scarf in your photo.

(EDIT: The following reference states they couldn't find the polka-dot scarf cited as located in an 1857 Godey's, but says they did find a child's polka-dot bonnet in one of that year's issues.)

THIS article talks about the history of polka-dots and includes the following 1850s/60s Austrian photo, held by NYC's Met Museum:

 

Sojourner Truth in polka dot dress, 1863 -


https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/p... Revolution arrived,this iconic photo as well.

 

It also says that the polka dot rage started in Europe in the mid 1800s with a jacket and hat. That means there would have been different articles of clothing with different types of polka dots.
An international city like Shanghai may have seen polka dots before the US did, and fashionable polka dot scarves could have spread from there. Assuming that the portrait was taken in China, that is.

 

It also says, in reference to a New Orleans ad:

This ad from April 21, 1849 advertises
"Changeable Polka Spot Silks"
and "Very Rich Polka-spot Foulard Silks"

So there is no need to look for a specific scarf, polka dots were everywhere.

 

I've edited my post above with some extra info... I'm finding the history of polka dots to be very interesting!

 

OP says it was taken in California.

 

I was wondering if there were photographers making ambrotypes in China, and it seems there were. Orrin Erastus Freeman established a studio in Shanghai in 1859. It was short-lived, but his advertisement in the North China Herald says "he is prepared to take the Ambrotype likeness in a style superior to anything hitherto offered in Shanghai", which implies there were other studios offering the service.

https://oldasiaphotography.com/researches/2

 

It could be an assumption because it was among California photographs?

 

Shanghai was a modern, sophisticated city in those days, not unlike Paris.

 

I imagine there would be studios in Hong Kong as well.

 

Absolutely. Beijing as well. Shanghai was the most 'Western' city though.

 

It's entirely possible that the photo was taken there to show to a prospective bridegroom in California. Also possible it was taken in SanFrancisco. By the 1850s goods were flying out there from both around the Horn and from Asia.

BTW - has anyone else noticed that all of those ladies look like they were around 14 years old? Maybe 16 at most? That makes it even more likely that the picture was taken there and shipped here, soon followed by the lady herself.

 

I appreciate the conversation about the polka dots.

Family history, as well as the history of the Chinese in America, makes it very unlikely that the photo was taken in China. Most of the early Chinese in America, including my ancestors, were peasants from small villages in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong (formerly known as Canton) Province. They lacked the resources for travel to large cities or luxuries such as photographs. This is why they wanted to come to America, where they believed they could make enough money to improve the lives of their family members back in China or to establish new lives in a land of greater opportunity.

In addition, most of the Chinese immigrants during the 1860s-70s were men who became railroad workers or miners. Some already had wives in China, while some traveled back to China at some point in order to get married and then perhaps returned to the U.S. to continue working, leaving their wives behind. Marriages that took place in the U.S. were uncommon, a) because most of the men intended to return to China permanently and b) there were few Chinese women in America at that time (most were servants or worked in the "oldest profession"). As far as I know, the practice of sending a photo of a prospective bride to a prospective groom was not followed.

Although I have little information about my great-grandfather's second wife (I am a descendant of his third wife), I have no reason to believe that she was ever anywhere in China where such a photograph could be taken. As I mentioned earlier, her husband became prosperous in America and could have afforded the cost of having a fancy photograph made for his wife. While it is possible that my great-grandfather traveled back to China to marry his second wife, we have no evidence of that. And he already had a wife in China--wife #1--that he probably married before coming to the U.S. around 1853.

Greg

 

To me this image looks like it could be taken in an American studio. I have seen Chinese photos from just a little later in the 19th century and they were framed and posed somewhat differently.

 

Thanks for the interesting family information! I wrote a longer post before reading this, and have deleted most of it.

 

Hi:

Here, at long last, are photos of the case. It is in remarkably good condition, considering its age.

Thanks for taking a look.

Greg

 

Thanks for that. I will look again at Sean Nolan's book, and also another one. Although it is black, I'm not sure that the design on the case is carved deeply enough to indicate that it's thermoplastic. But can't really tell. I have Berg's book that has lots of thermoplastic case designs. I am going to be a bit busy today but will try to get it done by the end of the afternoon.

Oh, also... at some point somebody might have taken the image out of the case, although maybe left it in the mat -- and put it back in upside down . These cased images are normally on the right side when the case is opened, with the velvet or silk pad on the left.

Actually, looking again, I see the image that you posted of the case was taken with the hook closures in the middle. And the case hinge is broken so it's in two pieces. So never mind -- the photo is in the right place, I think. I don't see where the hooks are in the first image, but if they are in the middle then the photo is fine.

 

From the texture, it looks like the case may be pressed/molded paper over wood. I think I see a bit of wood peeking out at the corner.




The overlapping material visible at this edge may be the remains of the hinge, either paper or fabric -


Some more info on the structure of cased photos -
https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/PMG_Cased_Photographs#Cases_and_Other_Housing_Formats

 

Nice article!

I won't have time today after all to check reference sources for the design on the case. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

 

Thanks for your patience. There has been a lot going on here for the past couple of weeks.

I found the case design in Sean Nolan's book. This is a design that Nolan calls "Band with whirlpool" (case #866, illustrated on page 236 in the 3rd edition). Nolan's study has found it in use in the early 1860s. All indications are that this photo is still in its original case (since it has been in your family all of its life, it is unlikely the case was changed, unless it was updated to a newer case at some point). The photo most likely dates from the early 1860s.

And as was stated by @2manybooks , the case is probably pressed paper over wood. There is a slight chance of leather, but I also think it looks like the paper ones. It is definitely not a thermoplastic case. Nolan did not include those in his book.