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Elizabeth Graff [Murphey] Townsend ambrotype portrait, 1858
Elizabeth Graff [Murphey] Townsend ambrotype portrait, 1858
Elizabeth Graff [Murphey] Townsend ambrotype portrait, 1858
Elizabeth Graff [Murphey] Townsend ambrotype portrait, 1858
Elizabeth Graff [Murphey] Townsend ambrotype portrait, 1858
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Elizabeth Graff [Murphey] Townsend ambrotype portrait, 1858

Permanent ID:
5852
Date:
circa 1858
Image Description:
Image: 1/6 plate; Seated woman with hair parted in the center, wearing a bonnet, underbrim decorated with frills of blonde lace and tied with white ribbons, dressed in a dark cloak or wrap, with long wide white neck ribbons, and white undersleeves, holding a baby dressed in a short-sleeved long white dress, color applied to both woman's and child's cheeks. Preserver: Fancier with inward points at the corners (after 1858). Mat: Oval with matte finish and simple embossed design (1850). Case: Thermoplastic with common "Two Pears" design (Berg No. 2-19), with a red velvet pinchpad and a ruby red velvet cushion embossed with a geometric design (1850-60s).
Inscription:
(embossed): M. P. SIMONS / PHILADA (Bottom corners of mat)

(ink on paper): 202 / Elizabeth Graff (Murphey) Townsend / married Isaac Townsend [recto]; #202 [verso] (Enclosed note)

(stamped in black ink on yellow paper): Littlefield, Parsons & Co., / MANUFACTURERS OF / Daguerreotype Cases. / L., P. & Co., are the sole / Proprietors and only legal Manu- / facturers of UNION CASES, with the / Embracing Riveted Hinge. / Patented October 14, 1856, / and April 21, 1857. (Paper lining behind image package)

(Printed in black ink on paper): The following well-known ge [sic] / We, the undersigned, know / have been kind / Mr M. P. Simons to be a / have no hesitati [sic] (Paper scraps used to seal image package)
Format:
Ambrotype
Dimensions:
Width: 7 cm, Height: 8.3 cm (image)
Width: 2 3/4 in, Height: 3 9/32 in (image)
Width: 8.4 cm, Height: 9.5 cm, Depth: 2.2 cm (case)
Width: 3 1/4 in, Height: 3 3/4 in, Depth: 7/8 in (case)
Collection:
Historical Society of Pennsylvania cased photographs collection
Related People or Organizations:
Murphey, Elizabeth Graff (depicted)
Townsend, Isaac (relates to)
Littlefield, Parsons & Co. (Manufacturer)
Simons, Montgomery P. (photographer)
Library of Congress Subjects:
Ambrotype [sh85004169]
Portrait photography--United States [sh2010107725]
Photographers--Marketing [sh87001204]