I like her. She's not stern. She's not particularly spooky. She just has that wonderful old portrait quality where you feel as though you've interrupted a thought that's been sitting there for 130 years.
Her dark high collared dress, tiny buttons, bar brooch and beautifully arranged curls make this an especially lovely Victorian portrait. And unlike so many cabinet cards that have faded into ghosts of themselves, her face still has wonderful definition and presence.
She's headed to the Haunted Relics collection because old photographs don't need fabricated ghost stories to be mysterious. We have her face. We have the photographer who took her portrait. We have Oswego, New York. And whatever else there was to know about her appears to have left the building.
Display her among antique books and curiosities, add her to a Victorian gallery wall, tuck her into your Halloween decor, or use the portrait for intuitive work, photographic divination or as an adopted ancestor for your altar. Personally, I'd put her somewhere she can see the room. She seems like she'd prefer that.
No psychic reading has been performed on this photograph, and I make no claims that anything paranormal is attached to it. What you feel about her is entirely your own business. And possibly hers.
Details
Original antique cabinet card photograph
Victorian era female portrait
Photographer marked Nagle
Studio location Oswego, New York
Unidentified sitter
Dark high collared dress with bar brooch
Burgundy photographer's mount with gilt lettering
Age appropriate toning, spotting, surface and edge wear
Sold as found
Display easel and styling props not included
