Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Elizabeth Cargill sent us her photo and asked:
‘I am hoping that you will be able to date this photo for me. My cousin was born in 1884 and I believe she was a governess. I have tried to research the company but haven’t found very much. Thanks for your help.’
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Jayne says:
‘This is a professional studio photograph dating from the early 20th century. As the old carte de visite and cabinet card formats began to die out during the Edwardian era, new types of portrait photograph became fashionable. One popular style was the photograph presented in a cartouche-like frame on a pale or soft-coloured mount, as we see here.
The so-called USA Studios, whose name does not represent a transatlantic business or location, but reflects the growing British interest in American culture in the early-1900s, used this format frequently, although they were equally well-known for their postcard photographs, then also coming into vogue. I have been unable to discover precise operational dates online for the USA Studios, but they were a prolific photographic chain operating from London and many different towns around the time this photograph was taken. If you wish to discover dates for individual USA Studios branches, this information can be requested from the photographic website which provides photographer data for a small fee.
Turning to the image, we see a well-dressed young woman wearing the fashions of the late-Edwardian era. Her smart ‘tailor-made’ suit – the popular term for a plain tailored skirt and matching jacket – was a stylish and respectable yet relatively practical outfit. Many Edwardian women favoured this for everyday wear when out in public, for work and even for some special occasions. An attractive blouse, like the high-necked blouse worn here, and an eye-catching hat added a formal, feminine touch and completed the ensemble.
The hat adopted here – sometimes referred to as the ‘gateau’ style due to the wide crown, which is almost as broad as the brim – offers a great dating clue, as this shape can be dated broadly to c.1907-1912. It was most fashionable during the years 1908-11. Fitting on top of a full hairstyle, such hats had to be secured by hat pins and a pin is visible here. Unusually, perhaps, this lady also wears rather chunky woollen, suede or fur mittens – slightly less elegant than the leather gloves often seen in studio photographs.
Jayne Shrimpton
You mention that this relative is believed to be a cousin born in 1884 and this seems to be a plausible identification. She would have been aged between around 24 and 28 at the time of this photograph – the kind of age that we might estimate this young woman to be. Her dress and general appearance does not indicate any particular occupation or profession, although looking at her confident pose and direct gaze, it is quite possible to imagine her as a governess. Perhaps she visited the photographer on this occasion to commemorate the start of a new job.’
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