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Description:
Up for sale is a beautiful, heavy late-Victorian portrait album dating to the late 1880s or 1890s, complete with an extensive collection of original family portraits.The exterior features an ornate, deeply embossed cover adorned with Aesthetic Movement floral paneling and decorative gold geometric borders. The heavy back cover retains its original four protective metal stud feet to keep the book safely raised off parlor surfaces.Inside, the album is heavily loaded and contains 66 total original antique photographs, split between:
- 15 Large Photos (Cabinet Cards)
- 51 Small Photos (Carte de Visite / CDV oval portraits)
The images feature a fantastic historical look at fashion and family life, capturing men, women, infants, children, and large multi-generational groups. The cards represent a diverse regional collection, featuring studio stamps from multiple prominent historic photographers across Ontario towns—including Dixon (Corner of King and Yonge St., Toronto), Park & Co. (Brantford, Ontario), and several others.Condition:
The front and back covers are in fantastic aesthetic condition with crisp, sharp molding. Internally, the heavy window pages show minor handling wear and a few small edge tears typical of age from holding so many heavy cards over the decades. The paper hinge along the internal spine is split/detached as shown in the photos, though the heavy pages themselves remain bound together.This is a wonderful, highly complete piece of social history and a fantastic find for collectors of early Canadian photography, Ontario genealogy, or Victorian parlor decor. Will be carefully packaged for secure transit within Canada.
