Woman in Mourning Dress, Hand-tinted Tintype, c. 1860s watercolor on wove and just to right sort

and just to right sort in which to keep

I’d just been thinking of all of the magnificent art nouveau architectural elements and doorways in Paris when I came across this antique wooden double shelf

say a very fine piece of china

medium pair 5/16" cubed

Another reminder of what an exciting hub of cross-disciplinary thinking and practice MIT has been

Woman in Mourning Dress, Hand-tinted Tintype, c. 1860s watercolor on wove and just to right sortNot my particular expertise, but I certainly take this as a portrait of a woman in deep mourning, and believe it is an early one, c. 1860s developed with little attention to the lower portion of the photo with the expectation of being cased. (?) With hand painting on her cheeks and lips and rich blacks against cold gray ground; she very much feels as if she is right here, and perhaps encircled with the spirit presence of her lost one! 3 9 16 x 2 5 16