French theater actress, Marie Legault, is the subject of this cabinet card photograph by internationally acclaimed celebrity photographer Charles Reutlinger. This image was produced in Reutlinger’s Paris studio in 1880. To view other Reutlinger photographs, click on the category “Photographer: Reutlinger”. Marie Francoise (Maria) Legault (1858-1905) entered the Paris Conservatory in 1872. That same year she finished second in the comedy competition. She was just fourteen years old at the time. She was awarded a stipend to continue her studies and she won the competition the following year. During her theatrical career she appeared at a number of venues including the Gymnase, the Palais-Royal, the Vaudeville, the Comedie-Francaise, and the Theatre Michel in St. Petersburg. Legault created the role of Roxane in Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1872) and of Marie Louise in L’Aiglon (1900) with Sarah Bernhard. Her obituary appears in the New York Times (1905).
THEATER ACTRESS: MARIE LEGAULT
PRETTY MOUNTAIN WOMAN WEARING NATIONAL ATTIRE IN UNTERACH, AUSTRIA
A pretty young woman wearing a grin and ethnic/national attire poses for her portrait in Unterach, Austria. Note the painted mountains in the background provided courtesy of photographer Arthur Floeck. An inscription on the reverse of the photograph reveals that the image was produced in 1904 in Unterach. Floeck was an official photographer of Kaiser Franz Josef. The front of this photograph indicates that Floeck had an additional studio in the Austrian town of Vocklabruck.
CUTE LITTLE GIRL IN A WICKER CHAIR IN ONEONTA, NEW YORK
The Van Woert studio in Oneonta, New York produced this wonderful portrait of an adorable wild haired little girl sitting on a wicker chair. The child’s combed back hair gives full display to her facial expression which seems to reflect a frowning disinterest. She doesn’t appear to be having a good time at Mr. Van Woert’s studio. She is wearing a white lace dress and a necklace and hair band. The cabinet card has a gilded gold border.
YOUNG COUPLE WITH GREAT AND NOT SO GREAT EYES IN BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK
A young couple pose for their portrait at the Wheeler studio in Binghamton, New York. The attractive and shapely young woman in this image has beautiful saucer sized eyes. She is wearing a necklace holding a pendant or coin. The well dressed gentleman’s eyes are less attractive. He seems to be looking at something out of the corner of his eyes. The photographer of this image is Sheldon S. Wheeler. The 1880 US census reveals that Wheeler (age 26) was born in 1854. He was married to Kate Wheeler (age 23). He was working as a photographer. The couple was living in Ostego, New York. The 1910 US census found Wheeler still working as a photographer and he and Kate had divorced. Wheeler is listed as a photographer in a number of Binghamton city directories from 1906 through 1915. The 1920 census indicates that Wheeler had married a woman named Belle and that she was seventeen years his junior. He had left the field of photography and was working in Real Estate. His Real Estate business was listed in several Binghamton directories from 1921 through 1929. Wheeler retired by the time the 1930 US census was taken and he died in 1936. He is buried in Binghamton.
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD IN CORTLAND, NEW YORK
G. E. Butler, a photographer in Cortland, New York was walking in the woods one day when he happened upon a young girl who seemed to be on a mission. He said “Hey little girl, where are you headed in such a hurry”? She replied that she was bringing her ill grandmother some chicken soup. The photographer asked the little girl her name and she said “Little Red Riding Hood”. Butler told the child that she was doing a great deed and that she should come by his photography studio with her parents and he would provide her with a free portrait. Their conversation in the forest scared off the “big bad wolf” so Little Red Riding Hood’s trip to her grandmother’s cottage was uneventful. That is enough fantasy for now. In reality, the photographer of this cabinet card photograph was George Edwin Butler. Butler succeeded George I. Pruden as the proprietor of a Cortland photography studio in 1893. Butler is cited in a New York Court of Appeals (1910) volume. He participated in a trial as a forensic photographer of the location of an accident involving an automobile and a child on a bicycle. This citation is the first mention I have found of a cabinet card era photographer being employed by a plaintiff or a defendant in a court case.
ERNEST AND TRIXY: A GENTLEMAN AND HIS DALMATION
A well dressed man and his pet dog pose for their portrait at the Hopson studio in an unknown locale. The bespectacled gentleman stands with a hand on his hip and the dog assumes a wonderful pose while standing on a chair. The reverse of the photograph has a written inscription stating “To Lilla, From Brother Ernest and Trixy”. Due to insufficient information, the identities of the subject and the photographer must remain a mystery. (SOLD)
BRITISH MILITARY MAN AND HIS WIFE AND SERVANT POSE IN TAIL NADU, INDIA
S. Boesinger photographed this young family and their Indian servant at a studio in Tamil Nadu, India. To the right of Boesinger’s name on the bottom of the photograph is the name “Wellington”. Boesinger may have had a partner named Wellington, or perhaps had another studio in Wellington, England. The gentleman in this image appears to be a member of the British military. Note the servants jewelry. She is wearing a necklace, earrings and wide bracelets. She is also wearing nose ring. She was clearly a pioneer in nose jewelry, a practice which has made a comeback in present day times.
DESK JOCKEY CONDUCTS BUSINESS IN POSEN, PRUSSIA
A handsome well dressed gentleman sits at his desk and poses for this portrait by the Engelmann studio in Posen, Poland. At the time of this photograph, Posen was a province of Prussia and part of the German Empire. The man in this photograph appears to be a professional of some type. Perhaps he was an attorney or politician. He is leafing through some papers and looking at the camera. Note the large books (journals?) and the inkwell on his desk. He is wearing a wedding ring and a bow tie. (SOLD)
PORTRAIT OF A TEENAGE GIRL IN MONTREAL, CANADA
A girl, who appears to be a teenager, poses for her portrait at the studio of L. E. Desmarais & Cie in Montreal, Canada. The street address of the studio was 17 St. Laurent. L. E. Desmarais was listed in a number of Montreal city directories between 1870 and 1895. Two other photographers with the same last name were also listed, Ovila Desmarais (1864-1875) and Oliver Desmarais (1871-1878). It is likely that all three men were related.
HANDSOME WEDDING COUPLE IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA
The Cabinet Card Gallery is appreciative of the talent of Austrian photographer S. Weitzmann and the site is developing a nice collection of his work. To view other images from Weitzmann’s Vienna studio, click on the category “Photographer: Weitzmann”. This photographic portrait captures a well dressed wedding couple. The bride is holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and the groom’s arm in the other hand. The groom is wearing a flower on his lapel and has a wonderful mustache. Note his top hat on the table beside him. He is holding a pair of white gloves and is wearing his newly acquired wedding band.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 