Photographic portrait of Mary Wilson Corbit and Mary Cowgill Corbit
Probably Philadelphia or Wilmington
Probably c. 1900
Maker
C. Towne (dates unknown)
Measurements
7-3/4 in x 6-3/4 in x 5/8 in; sight, 5-1/2 in x 4-1/2 in
Materials
Colored photograph
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.1006
Inscription
“C.Towne.” is written along the lower right border. A typewritten label attached to the top center of the back of the frame says, “1853 / Mary Wilson Corbit / Mary Cowgill Corbit / 5 years old.”
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
This photograph, originally black and white and subsequently colored, shows Mary Wilson Corbit in a bonnet with her 5-year-old daughter, Mary Cowgill Corbit, standing on the left. The coloring has reduced or eliminated halftones that consequently alter the appearance of the image. The image is that of a daguerreotype, accession no. 1971.1007.
The photo is in a frame that likely dates from around 1900. That date is likely when the photographic reproduction of the daguerreotype was made. The date typed onto the label likely references when the daguerreotype was made, not the photograph. "C. Towne," the name in white along the lower right margin, is probably the colorist, whose identity is unknown.
