Photograph: Portrait of Mrs. James Carton, ca. 1870 -1874

From Barnum Museum

1870 – 1874 (Date manufactured/created)

Cabinet card photograph, ca. 1870 - 1874, of a young woman identified on the back of the card as Mrs. James Carton, Williamsburg LI [Long Island] NY.  She appears to be in her early 30s.  The full-length studio portrait shows Mrs. Carton wearing a dark color silk gown featuring an overskirt that forms a large, puffy bustle, while the primary skirt, trimmed with a deep, pleated border, trails the floor.  In this period of fashion, various styles of pleated trimmings, the product of the dressmaker's skill, were used abundantly on gowns, as this one shows.  Prominent jewelry, like this chain necklace, was also popular with fashionably dressed women.  Mrs. Carton's hair is arranged with short bangs, a pile of elegantly twisted hair atop the crown, and long wavy hair cascading down the back, all in accordance with the style of elaborate coiffures in the 1870s.  Even her pose, called a Grecian Bend, with the upper back being slightly curved forward as she leaned on a support, speaks to the convention of portraits in the late 1860s and  early 1870s.  Mrs. Carton is shown leaning on the back of a velvet-covered chair.  Drapery trimmed with braid featuring the Greek key motif falls across the chair.  The photograph was taken at Wood Studio, 208 Bowery in New York City.

This cabinet card is part of a large group of photos exchanged with or given to Fritz Smith and Kitty Sharpe Smith, 19th century circus and vaudeville performers.  It is unknown whether Mrs. Carton was also a performer or someone who was employed in a different capacity, such as a wardrobe mistress, or was a friend entirely outside their circle in the circus and vaudeville worlds.

Gift of Susan Crozier Fairchild

Accession/ID Number MS-0027-504-005