
This striking cabinet card portrait dates from the late 1890s to around 1900 and features a young woman dressed in what appears to be a nurse’s uniform—complete with puffed-leg-of-mutton sleeves, white apron, upright collar, and traditional cap. She stands confidently with a closed book in her hand, suggesting she may have been a nursing student or early-career nurse. The backdrop is characteristic of Chicago studio work from the turn of the century: softly atmospheric with an artfully staged setting and a patterned table drape at the viewer’s left. The photograph was produced by the Scott studio. Scott’s studio was located in the Champlain Building in Chicago, Illinois. This image is a compelling example of turn-of-the-century occupational portraiture. Based on the mount style, typography, fashion (leg-of-mutton sleeves peaked ~1895–1899), and the known period of Scott’s Chicago imprint, this cabinet card dates to: circa 1895–1900. (SOLD)



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