Pair 1880 CCs Photomontage BABIES Smiling and Crying by Joshua Smith CHICAGO IL

Description: Two (2) cabinet card photograph montages of very young children, by Joshua Smith of Chicago, Illinois, copyright 1880. Both cabinet cards are photomontages of babies and share the same backmark with a printing credit to E. & H.T. Anthony & Co at bottom. Both are also marked Copyright 1880, Joshua Smith, Chicago, at bottom left in the photograph. One view is entitled Good Morning and shows the smiling faces of a few dozen infants. The other is entitled Good Evening and shows just as many babies frowning and crying. Smith was known for his portraits of children—a large composite view of children won him a medal at the Paris Exposition of 1878 (as shown on the back of these cards). These two images likely were inspired by that photograph and were produced by Smith to advertise his photography business. In 1881, he would produce a companion image showing African American babies, entitled Little Ethiopians. These two cabinet cards are in only fair to good condition with light to moderate wear and soiling. Note the rubbing and bumping at the corners of the cards and the wear around the edges. The photographs exhibit only good tonal range (a bit light throughout) and show only detail. A nice pair of cabinet cards and an interesting bit of photographic history!

Price: 19.99 USD

Location: Ashaway, Rhode Island

End Time: 2024-11-15T14:55:46.000Z

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