This cabinet card photograph features a lovely middle aged woman. A name appears on the reverse of the photograph and it likely belongs to the subject. The photographer of this cdv is Guglielmo Sebastianutti (1825-1881) and Franz Benque (1841-1921). Sebastianutti has one portrait in England’s National Portrait Gallery. It is evident that the photograph is an early cabinet card because Sebastianutti died in 1881 and because the years he won photography awards reveal the approximate time this photo was taken. The reverse of the photograph lists a number of awards won by the photographers. They recognized in Berlin, Germany (1865), Paris, France (1867), Hamburg, Germany (1868), Groningen, Netherlands (1869), and Vienna, Austria (1870), Since Sebastianutti’s photography career ended in 1878, it is clear that this image was taken between 1870 and 1878. Sebastianutti’s studio was located in the city of Trieste, which is a port city located in northeast Italy. During Sebastianutti’s career, he partnered with celebrated German photographer, Franz Benque (1841-1921). Benque moved to Trieste in 1864 and partnered with Sebastianutti in the opening of a photography studio. At the time Sebastianutti was watchmaker. In 1868, Benque married Sebastianutti’s step-daughter, Isabella. Despite the success of his studio, Benque returned to Germany in 1869, and opened a studio with his cousin, Conrad Kindermann, in Hamburg. Benque must have had wanderlust because in 1870, he immigrated with his family to Brazil. There, he partnered with Alberto Henschel (1827-1882) and operated studios in Bahia and Pernambuco. Benque’s studios gained the reputation of being the best in all of Brazil. In 1878, Benque must have had another episode of wanderlust which propelled him back to Trieste and a partnership with Sebastianutti. Benque must have had one more “relocation” left in him. In 1903 he moved to Villach, Austria. This cabinet card image is in very good condition (see scans).
This cabinet card is available for purchase at my store, The History Peddler, for $36.00 at auction.
Interested collectors may view the listing here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/336417743549
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 
Dropping in from Miss Merry’s abode and much admiring this dignified lovely woman’s likeness here likely decades after her passing. The dress and hair first prompted me to hope that she grew to be one of those fabulous Grandmothers who spent Sundays after Mass in company with all her progeny and their own, bringing out wonderful dishes to the long table beneath the grape arbor. The provenance and credentials of the photographers seem to belie that situation even in her older age, for their elegant reputations bespeak a One-Of portrait in anyone’s life, and a probability of a cook and servants at her call. In any case, she’s a lovely thought on a snow-covered morning on this cusp of Valentine celebrations. I’m now looking up the derivations of “cabinet” for this looks remarkably like a fabulous little leather-bound album that I’ve been admiring on my shelf for years. Thank you for following my maxim of “Please put names on pictures while you still know them.”
PS: I re-read my comment to see that it was sent by “bravelyface” and I do not know who that is. I am racheld @ LAWNTEA blog.