This cabinet card features an unidentified young girl who appears to be deep in concentration as she practices playing her violin. Note the music stand. You may have seen similar stands at your local antique store or antique show. This image was produced at the Dobler studio in Warren, Illinois. Research yielded no information about Dobler or his studio
This cabinet card features a portrait of the Shepard Family Concert Company. In this photograph, mother is playing the piano (or organ) and the five children and their father are playing violins. The photographer of this cabinet card is unknown, as is the location of the studio. A photograph of the Shepard family and their instruments appears in The Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont (located in Middlebury, Vermont). In addition, the museum possesses a “cigar ribbon quilt” serving as a piano cover. The quilt is made from silken advertising ribbons which cigar companies used to tie cigars together for packaging purposes. This particular quilt was made by Mary Emily Shepard (“Minnie”), the matriarch of the Shepard Family. The Shepard Family was Massachusetts based, and mostly toured upper New England. The musical group venues included the Town Hall Theatre, in Middlebury, Vermont. Family Musical Troupes were popular in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Shepard and their children, Kittie, Laura, Lessie, Georgie, and Burtin were regionally well known and appreciated in the late nineteenth century. Each family member were multi instrumentalists. The family could perform as a choral group, a brass band, or a violin ensemble with the mother playing the pump reed organ. In addition, sometimes, the children would perform as a banjo quintet.
A wavy haired boy poses with his violin and bow for photographer G. A. Carlson, in Willmar, Minnesota. The young maestro appears dressed for a musical performance and looks very “professional”. Next stop; Carnegie Hall.
Offered here is a striking late-Victorian cabinet-format photograph of an unidentified young woman posed with her violin and bow, dating to approximately 1895–1898. Seated against a plain studio background, the young musician holds the violin upright beside her face while resting its body against her lap, with the bow extending dramatically across the lower portion of the photograph. Her serious, direct expression and the unusually close composition produce a particularly compelling portrait that stands apart from the more conventional musician photographs of the period. The sitter wears a fashionable dark dress with exceptionally large puffed sleeves, striped trim at the neckline and sleeves, and a light-colored blouse or underbodice. This pronounced sleeve style was at the height of fashion during the middle and latter part of the 1890s and provides the strongest evidence for dating the portrait. A small medallion or award is pinned to her bodice, possibly indicating membership in a school, musical organization or performing group. Her centrally parted hair is drawn back and decorated with a large light-colored ribbon bow. SOLD
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