A young girl sits on a chair, hands folded on her lap, and dreamily looks at the camera. Sitting alongside her is her trusty pug. Actually, the dog may not be that trusty because the dog is wearing a collar and chain insuring that he stays in range of the camera. The young girl is holding the dog’s leash. This photograph was taken at the Kottmann studio in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Edward Kottmann was a German born photographer who received his training at galleries in Philadelphia. He began working as a photographer in Altoona in about 1883. An advertisement announcing the sale of his gallery appears in Snap Shots (1908). SOLD
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 
Is there something wrong with her hands ?In the enlarged version,they just don’5t look right. Also,they are very soft focus, whereas the rest of the photo is quite sharp.
Maybe she’s just fiddling around with the leash so the hands are blurred……..
Her hair is so short ! I would love to know more about her. Was her head shaved due to a high fever and now it’s growing out ? Was short hair the rage where she lived ?
So many questions, so few answers….
Or maybe her hair is pulled back into a braid ? Don’t ask me,I sure can’t tell ya !
Do you think she looks 8 or less. She could be a he, as Breeching was the occasion when a small boy was first dressed in breeches or trousers. From the mid-16th century until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the Western world were unbreeched and wore gowns or dresses until an age that varied between two and eight.