CDV: Young Woman with Rolled Hair, c. 1862-64

CDV: Young Woman with Rolled Hair, c. 1862-64

CDV: Young Woman with Rolled Hair, backmark

Backmark: “D.K. Jewell Artist, Augusta, Me.”

Date: c. 1862-64

Subject: Portrait of a Young Woman

Location: Augusta, Maine

Dress: Fabric is striped and barred (dark vertical stripe, thin light “bars”, or widowpane) may be wool, cotton, silk, or a mix.

The piping at the neckline is visible. Most, if not all, round (jewel) necklines were piped in this period.

She wears a short standing white collar and a brooch at center front/neck. Decorative buttons down center front are just barely visible.

Hair: The three-quarter pose allows us to see a wonderful hairstyle. Center parted and oiled (note the comb lines just below her part); the front hair is combed away from the face over a wide “rat,” making the width extend from just above her temples t o the nape of her neck.

The front hair continues in a thick roll (no doubt augmented by a rat or false hair) across her neck, with the ends integrated into the back coil or tucked beneath is.

Her back hair is combed into a low-lying coil. Note the prominent levels(coils sticking out, with the last coil being the farthest out); this is typical of back coils from the 1840s through the middle of the 1860s. The back hair was typically held in place with a comb, usually ornamental as well as functional. Unfortunately, her comb is not visible. She may also be using hairpins to help hold everything in place.

Cabinet Card: Woman, 1860s

Cabinet Card: Woman, 1860s

Cabinet Card: Woman, 1860s, Backmark

Backmark: “S. Piper, 864 Elm St., Manchester, N.H.”

Date: Original image c. 1860

Subject: Woman

Location: Manchester, N.H.

Note: The style of dress in this photo predates the invention of the Cabinet Card, so I believe that this is a reprint of an older photograph.

Dress: This woman wears a one-piece dress, attached skirt and bodice, of silk.  The fabric appears to be solid-coloured.  Her bodice is darted fitted, opens up center front with concealed hooks and eyes, and decorated with a row of ornamental buttons

Her sleeves, while not completely out of style in the late 1850s and early 1860s, were certainly unusual for the time.  They are probably made in two parts- the top section sewn onto a tight lower section.  I am not aware of a specific name for this cut of sleeve, either period or modern.  Gigot or leg’o’mutton always seemed to me to most accurately describe the one-piece sleeves that are puffed at the top and narrow at the cuff (after all, a leg of lamb is in one piece!).  At first glance this woman’s sleeve resembles the gigot, but I think the shape is different enough that it deserves another name.

Her full skirt is worn over a wide hoop or cage crinoline.  The skirt is knife-pleated into the waist, with the pleats facing towards center front.  Her skirt is trimmed in several horizontal bands.  I can’t tell exactly what the trimming is, but a good possibility is that it is rows of self-fabric ruched up the center to from two puffs, and outlined top and bottom with velvet ribbon.

She wears a watch fob suspended from her belt- the watch is tucked into a small, vertical watch-pocket.  The majority of watch-pockets that I have seen on original garments are horizontal and on the left side of the dress (PL), but vertical pockets do show up occasionally.

Her dress is finished with narrow, flat white collar, pinned at the throat with a brooch.

Hair:  Instead of trying to tame naturally curly hair into the smooth hairstyles popular during the mid-victorian period, many curly-headed women preferred to wear them in controlled ringlets.  We would call them “banana curls.”  This woman conforms to the style of the period by center-parting her hair, oiling it, and setting it into uniform ringlets.