Portrait of unidentified woman photograph   Save
Jay Cooke Family Collection
Description: Photograph of a cabinet card portrait of a woman seated on an elaborately decorated chair. The woman is wearing a long formal gown and what appears to be a sleeved cape-coat. She has a ring on the third finger of her left hand (possibly an engagement or wedding ring or both). Her waist-length hair spills over her right shoulder, and the crown of her head is draped with what looks like strands of pearls. Around her hips she wears a decorative girdle (belt) made of diamond-shape segments. The mount of the original cabinet card bears the name and address of the photographic firm: "Gilbert and Bacon, 1030 Chestnut Street and 820 Arch Street, Philada." Gilbert & Bacon was a well-known firm located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Proprietors were photographers Charles M. Gilbert (b. ca. 1848) and William F. Bacon (ca. 1843-1900). It was in business from the 1874 (peak of the cabinet card's popularity) until ca. 1929. After Bacon's death in 1900, his son William operated the business the late 1920s. The identity of the sitter and the photographer have not been verified, although some information indicates that the photograph may have been taken by Reverend Henry Cooke. It's possible that confusion arose over the fact that Jay Cooke had a brother named Henry David Cooke, who was not a minister but a businessman and journalist. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06289
Subjects: Cabinet photographs; Studio portraits; Family History
Places: Jay Cooke Family Collection