Twin Babies
c. 1870
Medium
salted paper print, hand-colored
Dimensions
image: 24 × 19.2 cm · paper: 29.2 × 25 cm
Classification
Photograph
Department
Photography
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro
Accession Number
2003.302
Tags
About this artwork
Color photography was not widely available until the 20th century, but 19th-century photographs could be embellished with hand-applied paints or dyes for an extra charge. Hand coloring, often done by women, usually was limited to adding dabs of pink on lips and cheeks or gold on jewelry, but sometimes, as here, the entire surface would be covered to emulate a painting. The edges of this mount are covered with trial dabs of watercolor that would have been hidden by the mat. Once portraits leave t...
About the Artist
Davis Brothers (American) ( ) · 1851 –1899
1851–1899