Three men in dark suits sit around a round table covered with a patterned cloth. The long-bearded central sitter holds a human skull, touching its brow while his companions look toward it. A second skull faces the camera between books. What appears to be an elongated animal specimen rests on a sloping support at the right.
This horizontal carte de visite was made at W. R. Gelderd’s studio in Port Chester, New York. The reverse identifies the photographer: “W. R. Gelderd, / Photographic Artist, / Port Chester, N. Y.” A double purple ruled border frames the photograph on its cream mount. The carefully arranged objects suggest anatomical or natural-history study, but do not establish the men’s occupations or the purpose of the sitting.
The back also reads, “This Negative preserved; duplicates can be had / by sending the Number.” The accompanying “No..........” line is unfilled.
Faint pencil along the upper edge of the supplied reverse scan reads “E[?][?][?] C[?][?]sel”. Another pencil mark, lower centre-right, is illegible: “[?]”.
- Medium
- CDV
- Subject
- New York
- Dimensions
- 4.03 × 2.38 in (102.2 × 60.5 mm)
- Condition
- Mount toned, with mottled soiling and scattered brown spots on the reverse; a small surface abrasion near the reverse’s right edge above centre. Scattered dark spots on the photograph and short brown marks on the reverse; light edge and corner wear.
- Catalogue no.
- MCDV922
Catalogue details
Location
Port Chester, New York · Port Chester, New York, United States
Photographed subject · Locality (town) · 70% confidence
Backmark reads "W. R. Gelderd, Photographic Artist, Port Chester, N. Y." with "This Negative preserved; duplicates can be had by sending the Number." Corroborated by Library of Congress 2010647701.
Source: Card backmark: "W. R. Gelderd, Photographic Artist, Port Chester, N. Y." (direct)
