There's a new cousin in my life, for which I am grateful. I am lucky to have lots and lots of cousins, most of whom are smart and kind and generous. (Runs in the family)
For privacy issues, I do not want to list the details of Cousin Jane's line; but she is my second (maybe third) cousin once removed. We share Britta and Mary Drucilla McGuire as many-greated grandmothers. She has graciously given me permission to publish her photos of Britta and Mary Drucilla. I'd like to share them with my readers. All four of them. As soon as I can figure out how to post an image to Blogspot.com. ;-)
Haven't figured that out yet. Grrr.....
Still, it often helps me to make discoveries if I describe exactly what I see. Here goes:
In the first tinted picture of Britta Ann, she sits alone in a chair, probably a rocker, in front of a tree or bush.
The scene:
The trees and ground are green, the chair and dress and Britta's skin are sepia. Britta wears a belt with tooling, either metal or leather. The tooling is tinted yellow, as is the small round piece of jewelry at her neck. There is a splash of yellow on the book she holds in her lap. There is a placeholder (probably cloth) in the book, which may or may not be a bible. There is a title on the book, but it looks to be one word, rather than the two as in "Holy BIble." Her arms are resting on the arms of the chair. The back of the chair is carved.
The tree looks to be quite well established and next to a pile of wood chips or small stones. Could this be the "'famous' largest pear tree in Pelham" that the McGuires were known for? Or is it an azalea or rhodie?
Her clothing:
Probably her Sunday good dress.
Her dress appears to be a shiny dark color--black, brown, or navy. More a smooth sheen like satin or silk than shiny like rayon. The skirt is long and full, covering her legs completely. Almost no wrinkles. It looks put together in sections, and evenly sewn, as though it were manufactured and store bought, not homemade. It falls in waves around her chair; not as full as the "Southern belle" type of skirt one thinks about, but the full amount of fabric of the turn of century clothing. It does not look repaired or patched at all.
There is a belt with tooling at the waist.
The blouse is the same color as the skirt. The sleeves are full with apparently a one-button cuff. There is an under sleeve or light-colored lining of some kind in the sleeve. The sleeves are full generous with material, pleated at the bottom and top where they meet the cuffs and armhole. Not leg-o-mutton sleeves. The blouse seems to be a shirt waist without being tapered at the bottom. There are either appliqués or large buttons on the right side of her dress. I'm inclined to think they are flower appliqués as they don't look to be equidistant from the edge of the blouse, and they are patterned. Britta is wearing a dark scarf tied around her neck--it's tied without being arranged. Which may mean that this picture was less posed than another picture of Mary Drucilla and her.
Moving up the body, we notice that the scarf covers almost her entire neck. Her face is old and unsmiling. Probably she had bad teeth or no teeth at this point as evidenced by the sunken cheekbones. Her nose is long and hooked from age; in addition, her ears seem larger than those of a middle-aged woman. She looks tired. She gazes out at us from under hooded eyes; not squinting into the sun, just not gazing directly at the camera. Her hair is thin and gray, parted in the middle and pulled back behind her ears, probably into a bun.
The fashion of the dress and hair seem to follow women's fashions of the 1860's, despite the likelihood that this picture was taken between 1890 and 1910. The full sleeves, silhouettes, and hair parted in the middle are typical for the period. See:
http://www.uvm.edu/landscape/dating/clothing_and_hair/1860s_clothing_women.php
and
http://www.ajmorris.com/roots/photo/datep18.php
The woman in this picture from 1895 wears clothes that are similar to Britta's.
http://www.classyarts.com/photos.htm?p=1&i=101
Another photo of Britta was taken by Boyett Studios in Birmingham. AL. I've just found a website that may help me date this photo a little more exactly:
http://www.classyarts.com/search.htm
It requires a subscription, so I'll have to save that discussion for next time. Can't wait to see more pix of Britta--hope I can figure out how to post them here!!!!!
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