Photo Friday

This particular picture is pretty awesome. The woman in the photo is Flora Stewart, and lore is she was a house slave in New England during the American Revolution. She died in 1868.

There's some more information on her at Nutfield Geneaology. It seems that her age is often disputed, and town records have been the subject of questioning in regards to her date of birth.

Regardless of if her age at death was 120 years old or whatever, it's still amazing to think that this woman possibly saw two world changing wars. She saw herself freed and surely witnessed the beginnings of the abolition of slavery. She also lived a huge range of fashions and styles. It's mind boggling to think someone can live so long.

Anywho, I thought this was a really cool picture and thought I'd share. Have a great weekend!

Photo Friday

This is a beautiful ad from Vogue, 1955. It's currently for sale on RubyLane for $15. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this bathing suit. I'm a sucker for sage green and I love the bloomers... though I'm not sure how well they would work in real life. I'd probably look like I was wearing a diaper, but I might just test that theory and let y'all know.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Photo Friday

This is a lovely picture of Queen Alexandra in 1884. She's wearing an absolutely stunning seaside dress and looks somewhat forlorn. I can't imagine how she could be in such a wonderful outfit. I especially love the subtle detail of the cuffs.

As you can see, the picture has a "LIFE" watermark on it... I found this beauty on Old Rags (A tumblr page)

Photo Friday

Happy Black Friday everyone! I will not be partaking in the festivities, but if you are and you need a little break from all he fun, this post is for you.

Today we are going to take a look at one of my favorite composers of all time. I give you, Johannes Brahms.

Johannes Brahms, ca 1853, 20 years old.

Rarely do we come across early photographs with exceedingly beautiful people, but Johannes proves us wrong. Here he is at 20 years old, lookin' fine. *I found this picture on My Daguerreotype Boyfriend.... which has many tasty pictures of fine looking men of years past*

I've played a couple of pieces that he composed. One of them being Rhapsody in G minor, op79 no2, which I played 5 years ago for my audition into music school.



Happy Black Friday!!!!

Photo Friday

Since I'm doing The 1888 Project I've been looking at gobs and gobs of CDVs and this one is one of my favorites I've come across.

This series of photos, done in a gif, is from the Metropolitan's collection.

"Dancing a Waltz" (ca.1883-1886)

by Eadweard Muybridge  (American, born Great Britain, 1830–1904)

Here's the page it comes from, Metropolitan Museum of Art

 What I love about this gif is that you can see the movement of the dress and you get a full turnaround to see what the other side of the dress looks like.

The couple also seems to be having a good time, which you don't see often in antique photographs.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Photo Friday

This week's Photo Friday is a painting by Marcus Stone called "In Love", painted in 1888.

Marcus Stone, 1888, "In Love"
Photo from Plum Leaves' Flickr stream

I love the soft colors of the painting and the very earnest look the young gentleman is giving his love, sitting oh, so far away. I wonder though, what's behind him? Is it a pillow or book of illustrations? What do you think?

Photo Friday

 "Woman Seen from the Back" ca 1862, Paris, France
 This is a really wonderful backview of a woman's hair, dress and necklace. I find it to be really educational since this is a rare seen view of a real woman from the period.

Salted Paper Print from Glass Negative, ca 1862, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Here's the description from the Met:

"A wealthy amateur photographer and a familiar figure at the French imperial court, the viscount Onésipe-Gonsalve Aguado de Las Marismas joined the Société Française de Photographie in 1858. With his better-known brother Olympe, a founding member of the society, Onésipe Aguado was among the early makers of photographic enlargements. The two brothers also collaborated on tableaux vivants that depict with wit and playfulness the fads and amusements of elegant society.
At once a portrait, a fashion plate, and a jest, this fascinating image expresses Aguado's whimsical mood, and is probably an extension of his work on foreshortening. It is strangely devoid of depth, as if the sitter were a two-dimensional cutout, a mere silhouette. The figure brings to mind the compositions of such painters as Caspar David Friedrich and René Magritte, both of whom made haunting use of figures seen from the back."

Photo Friday

© Bridgeman Art Library / Rafael Valls Gallery, London, UK
Painted by J. Mulnier

Today's Photo Friday is going of an 18th century woman with a ridiculously huge hat.... but I want it.

Have a great weekend!

Photo Friday

An interesting bunch of photographs have been floating around on the web and I just had to share them.

"part of a collection of 2500 mugshots taken by New South Wales Police Department photographers between 1910 and 1930 - give a fascinating glimpse into the role of women in the seedy underbelly of early 20th century Australian life"
                 ~The Daily Mail

I'm going to a couple of the most interesting ones.

Yeah, she was a bad cat, but look at those shoes!

"Fay Watson is listed in the New South Wales Police Gazette from 1928. She was arrested in a house in Crown Street, Darlinghurst, and subsequently convicted for being in possession of cocaine for which she was fined ten pound"

"Man-woman murderer: Harry Crawford, above looks like a man but her real name was Eugenia Falleni (right). She spent most of her life masquerading as a man.  In 1913 she married  widow, Annie Birkett, whom she later murdered. The case whipped the public into a frenzy as they clamoured for details of the 'man-woman' murderer. "

"Stealing: Doris Poole appeared before the Newtown Police Court charged with stealing jewellery and clothing. She had previously been convicted on a similar charge in North Sydney and so received a six-month sentence with light labour"

Photo Friday!

Before the wedding started, I promised to have "Photo Fridays" then didnt deliver. I'm making an active effort now, and planning ahead!

This week's photo is one of my favorites of all time! It's a photo from the mid 1880's and she's holding a puppy. A TERRIER PUPPY! Adorbs.

Photo snatched from FeefeeRN

Photo Friday

This week's photo is a two-fer for a couple of reasons.

1) I enjoy pretty photos
2) I enjoy pretty music

This post is about an Italian woman named Lina Cavalieri (1874-1944). She was a very famous
operatic soprano who died in 1944 during a bombing raid on her home in Italy. Apart from being a famous soprano, she also worked in early films, made a few recordings and was considered by some to be "The World's Most Beautiful Woman".

Her gown is stunning, too

Here is a recording of Cavalieri in 1910, singing "L'Altra Notte" along with a few other images of interest. Enjoy!

A portrait of Lina painted by
Giovanni Boldini in 1901