This striking early-20th-century photographic postcard presents an elaborate staged scene featuring five young girls, one boy, and a pug-type dog. The children are arranged around what appears to be a cushioned bed or divan in a photographer’s studio, with flowers scattered through the composition and a painted backdrop behind them. The five girls wear beautifully detailed white Edwardian dresses decorated with lace, ruffles and large hair ribbons; several have extraordinarily long hair, adding considerably to the visual appeal of the image. In the center, a stout little pug sits upright on an ornate fringed cushion, wearing an impressive studded collar and harness and looking directly toward one of the girls. At the far right is the only boy in the group. He wears a sailor-inspired outfit, including a striped shirt and broad white sailor collar, and holds a long toy rifle vertically beside him. The juxtaposition of the delicately dressed girls, the heavily harnessed pug and the boy with his rifle gives the scene an almost theatrical or storybook quality. It may have been intended to represent children engaged in make-believe rather than an ordinary family portrait. The card was published as part of a series (no.325). The card was mailed in Belgium. The green stamp is a Belgian 1-centime Coat of Arms issue, a design introduced in 1893; catalog references place this particular Coat of Arms series in the 1893 period. The circular cancellation appears to read LIÈGE, so the card was apparently mailed from Liège, Belgium. This postcard was published sometime circa 1907. SOLD
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