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Title: [Full-length portrait of an unidentified, seated girl]
Description: Full-length, forward facing portrait of an unidentified, young, white girl seated on a chair. Sitter has dark hair parted in the middle with a curl on her forehead. She is attired in an off-the shoulder, boat neckline, short-sleeved dress with decorative swirls around the collar and cuffs, a necklace, white stockings, and black Mary Jane shoes. She sits on a child-sized, wooden chair with her left arm on the armrest and curled right hand, slightly clenched, resting on her lap. Her lips and cheeks are tinted pink., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the sitter., Pink tinting on lips and cheeks., Pad: Red velvet with a diamond-shaped, decorative scroll in the center., Mat: Nonpareil., Case: Leather. The design of the case is called the Oval, Diamond and Circle and is plate 198 in American miniature case art by Floyd and Marion Rinhart (Cranbury, New Jersey: A. S. Barnes and Co., Inc., 1969.) Uncommon., Gift of Robert DeMento, 2012.
Date: [ca. 1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos – unid photo – unid sitter [P.2012.50]

Title: [African American girl caregiver seated with a young white girl, probably her charge, on her lap]
Description: Three-quarter length, forward facing portrait of an African American girl caregiver, possibly an enslaved girl, seated on a wooden chair with spindles. Sitter has short hair and is attired in a long-sleeved dress made of patterned fabric with small checks and an apron with white polka dots. She holds a white girl on her lap (probably her charge), with her right hand on the girl’s chest and her left hand on the left side of the girl’s head. Their heads press together side-by-side. The blond-haired, white girl, attired in a necklace, a short-sleeved, dark-colored, checked dress with a white petticoat, stockings, and black shoes, faces the viewer and smiles. Her cheeks are tinted pink., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the sitters., Leather miniature case embossed with oval motif, contains nonpareil mat, and is missing front cover., Gift of Mrs. A. Douglas Oliver, 1977., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos - unidentified [8326.F.17]

Title: [Portrait of an unidentified African American girl]
Description: Three-quarter length, forward facing portrait of an African American girl seated on a chair with an ornate, wooden back. Sitter has long, dark hair, parted in the middle, crimped, and tied in pig tails. She is attired in a dark-colored, short-sleeved dress with white lace decorating the cuffs. She clasps her hands together slightly and rests them at her waist. Her cheeks are tinted pink. Sitter is probably a member or acquaintance of the Dickerson Family of Philadelphia., Title supplied by cataloger., Pad: Faded red velvet with fleur de lis in center surrounded by scrolls., Mat: Oval., Case: Leather. Geometric design with a six pointed star within a shield flanked by banners. Same design on verso., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1993, p. 17-24., Reproduced on cover and on page 44 of Julie Winch's The Elite of our people (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000)., Gift of Mary P. Dunn, 1993., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1855-ca. 1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos - Dickerson Family Collection [P.9427.9]

Title: [Ralston family cased photograph collection]
Description: Collection of daguerreotype and ambrotype portraits, several by Norristown daguerreotypist William Stroud, portraying clergyman and founder of Oakland Female Institute James Grier Ralston, his wife Mary Anderson Larimore Ralston, their daughters, and his and his wife’s female siblings, and women teachers at the Institute. Contains bust-, half-, three-quarter, and full-length portraits of individual and pairs of sitters. Sitters are often seated, but a number of the portrait depicts sitters in a standing pose. The women’s and girl’s attire includes bonnets; off-the-shoulder bateau neckline dresses; high-neck, long-sleeved dresses with lace collars and cuffs; brooch and belt chatelaines; and earrings. Dresses worn by the female sitters are often a solid dark color, but occasionally are of a pattern design or light color. James Grier Ralston’s attire included broad bow ties, vests, jackets, and suits. Many of the images also contain props, including covered side tables, chairs, flowers, possibly an ambrotype, and a crumpled piece of cloth., Sitters in addition to James Grier Ralston and Mary Anderson Larimore Ralston include their daughters Anna Larimore Ralston, Ella Grier Ralston, Lilly Grier Ralston (who died at 11 months old), and Cora (Cara) Ralston; Institute music teacher Mrs. John Hunsicker, i.e., Fannie Henry Hunsicker (married by James G. Ralston); Mary’s sister and Institute graduate, Hetty Clark Larimore; and Institute teacher and sister of James, Agnes Caldwell Ralston; Institute graduate Martha (Mattie) Divine (Mrs. Fleming); and an unidentified woman., Posed portrait pairs include images of Mary Anderson Larimore Ralston and daughter Anna Larimore Ralston (P.2012.5.6) in which Anna sits in Mary’s lap with her mother’s hand on her head; and Anna Larimore Ralston and Ella Grier Ralston (P.2012.5.8) which Anna stands next to Ella who sits on a chair, while she rests her arm on a covered side table adorned with a basket of flowers; Anna Larimore Ralston and Fanny Hunsicker (P.2012.5.16) in which Fanny, seated, has her one hand at her hip and her other hand and arm around the waist of Anna who stands; and Hetty Clark Larimore and Mary Larimore Ralston (p.2012.5.17) in which the women are seated, side by side, and Hetty holds a bound object, possibly an ambrotype and Mary holds a crumpled white cloth., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and age and attire of sitters., Photographers include William Stroud (Norristown, Pa.) and Theodore L. Chase (Philadelphia, Pa.)., Various-shaped mats, including oval, elliptical, double elliptical, and non pareil., Various colored pads, including blue, red, and maroon velvet or silk, several with embossing. Embossings include photographer’s imprints and/or imagery. Imagery includes floral and geometric designs, scroll work, and eagles., Primarily leather cases, and one thermoplastic case. Case designs vary, but are predominantly rose and mixed flower designs, in addition to geometric, scroll, and quatrefoil designs. Designs also include Pressed Flower, plate 154; The Delicate Roses, variant, plate 123; A Spray of Roses, plate 131; Mixed Garden Flowers, plate 133; Two Lilies, variant, see plate 112 and 113 in American miniature case art by Floyd and Marion Rinhart (Cranbury, New Jersey: A.S. Barnes and Co., Inc., 1969)., Majority of sitters identified by accompanying slips of paper with manuscript notes., Several of the images contain pink tinting on the cheeks of the sitters., P.2012.5.4, P.2012.5.8, P.2012.5.11-15, P.2012.5.21 contains daguerrean's imprint on pad or inside rim of case. Various imprints include: William Stroud, Norristown; William Stroud's Skylight Gallery, Norristown, Pa.; Stroud’s Ambrotypes Norristown, Pa., P.2012.5.6 contains dagurrean's imprint on pad: Theodore L. Chase, N.E. cor. Chestnut & Fifth Sts., Fannie Henry Hunsicker was a woman of Chinese descent. Official records are conflicting as to whether she was born in China, at sea, or in Connecticut., Several of the images contain weeping glass deterioration, tarnished plates, or other damage., Inventory of collection available at repository., See Sarah Weatherwax, "Revealing the Ralston Family," The Daguerreian Society Quarterly (July-September 2021), p. 3-6., Clergyman James Grier Ralston (1815-1880) founded Oakland Female Institute in 1845 in Norristown, Pa. Ralston studied at the Theological Seminary at Princeton and headed the Female Seminary at Oxford, Chester Country, PA before establishing Oakland. He married Mary A. Larimore (1822-1891) in 1842 and they had four children Anna L. (1848-1902), Ella M.(1847-1924), Lillie G. (1852-1853) and Cara G. (1856-1928), with Lillie dying in infancy. Ralston’s children were educated and/or taught at Oakland, as did his sister Agnes C. Ralston. The Institute operated until 1880 and the death of Ralston
Date: [ca. 1845-ca. 1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cased photos - Ralston Family [P.2012.5.1-22]

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