This charming vintage photograph captures a young boy seated on a wooden sled, dressed in winter attire. The image is mounted on gray cardstock with a debossed border, a style prevalent between 1900 and 1915. The boy is dressed in a thick woolen outfit, high leather boots, and a wide-brimmed hat, typical of early 20th-century winter wear. He sits on a wooden sled, which resembles designs manufactured between 1895 and 1915, commonly used in Northern states. The photographer’s signature, “Miss Clarke,” is embossed in script on the lower right corner. The photographer is Miss Clarke, possibly the celebrated Sara Maynard Clark. The photograph was taken at Miss Clarke’s Doylestown, Pennsylvania studio. Various aspects of the photograph indicate that the photo was taken sometime between 1905 and 1912. Sara Maynard Clark (1891–1973) was a prominent writer, editor, historian, and photographer based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. After relocating to the area in 1933, she contributed extensively to local publications such as The New Hope, Bucks County Traveler, and New Bucks County Magazine, often incorporating her own photographs into her articles. She also collaborated with her husband, Harold (Hal) Clark, and their son, Maynard Clark, both photographers, to document the evolving character of Bucks County through photography. Her work is preserved in the Bucks County Artists Database and has been featured in exhibitions at the Michener Art Museum. If I have dated this photograph correctly, the photographer is likely a different woman than Sara Maynard Clark because she was likely living in Iowa, and not Pennsylvania, when this photo was taken. In addition, Clark is spelled Clarke on this photograph’s mount. Further research is required to confirm the identity of the female photographer who took this photo. (SOLD)
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