Two sisters, in identical dresses, pose for a cabinet card portrait, as they play separate xylophones. The girls are very conscious of the camera as they pretend to play their duet. The xylophones are atop interesting pieces of furniture, or perhaps, trunks. Viewers of this image must consider the possibility that the sisters in this photograph are actually one, and the same, person. It was not unusual during this era for a photographer to use trick photography to place one person in two positions in the same photograph. The photographer of the cabinet card was E. J. (possibly E. T.) Vanderbilt, whose studio was located in Liverpool, England.
A XYLOPHONE DUET IN LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND
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THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 
Reminds me exactly of the poses we had to assume when photos were taken our high school tennis team. Give these wonderful sisters a tennis racket and they could be waiting for the opponent’s serve!