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Victorian Writing Slope - My Pride & Joy!


Marlow

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I forgive you.

 

Post-mortem photography was very common in the Victorian era. Don't forget that getting a portrait painted was very expensive. Photography on the other hand was relatively cheap. Especially for poorer families (or for MOST people, rich or poor), having a mourning photograph was a cheap, but effective way to remember the dead.

 

Upon a person's death, the body was cleaned, prepared, dressed, posed (on its own, or with family) and then a photograph was taken, as if the person was still alive. The photograph was retouched to add or remove certain features (spots, pupils, eyelashes/brows etc) and then printed and developed.

 

A photograph was then stored in a frame, or in this case, a locket, along with a snippet of the deceased's hair, and would've been worn in memoriam of the deceased. Victorian mourning rituals were INCREDIBLY strict. In times of mourning, you wore black EVERYTHING. Shoes, gloves, clothes, hats...even mourning-jewellery which was literally jet-black. Jet is a type of precious stone.

 

The fact that this locket has been kept away securely in the writing-chest for so long would suggest that it was someone of particular closeness to the original owner of the box. Possibly a sister, a daughter or the younger relation of a very very very close friend. In Victorian times, diseases such as typhoid, cholera, consumption*, yellow fever, scarlet fever, smallpox and countless other ailments were rife, especially among the poor.

 

Death was a big part of everyday life back then, and it was not taken lightly. Because people died so frequently and their time on earth so brief, it's rather understandable that families went to such lengths as this to commemorate the deceased.

 

*Consumption = Victorian terminology. Modern name: "Tuberculosis".

http://www.throughouthistory.com/ - My Blog on History & Antiques

 

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Match all of this to the documents, and you will find quite a history.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Once again, I am indebted to you, pen2paper, for these insights! The photo will not be handled again until i can find a restorer. The original glass back to the locket is intact! I have it! It looks as though the photo was inserted into the locket, followed by a brass locket-divider (with a lip onto which the celluloid oval would have rested), followed by the two pieces of card, followed by the celluloid with locks of hair mounted on it, then closed in with the other piece of glass!

 

This is all very exciting! How fortunate I am to be the current caretaker of these precious artifacts!! :embarrassed_smile: :cloud9:

"Every job is good if you do your best and work hard.

A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have

nothing to do but smell."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

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Shangas is correct, there was a lot of post-mortem photography.

At times it was the only known photo of the belated person. The most poignant I've viewed was two US Civil War soldiers standing with their father sitting, posed as though alive, between them.

Often eyes were posed open, with details painted on to help them appear to be Focused. when it's clear they are not. A foot or hand is askew rigidly.

I too wondered about this photo. But having seen many such. She appears healthy/robust, not sunken or with odd gravitational pulls to her stance. I think she was alive and focusing on not smiling Per instructions.

edited to note that, if in fact the second lock of hair is also hers, it is not grey. But is approx the color in the photo. This may be her last photo in the last of her good health or just after a brief illness.

This is where the documents you also have may help you.

Also, if these pieces were found in the hidden drawer, that may factor in the history.

Edited by pen2paper
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Have started to follow up some leads re UK listings of photographers from the victorian era, as well as pursuing genealogical lines of enquiry re the named ladies and Mary Jane's husband... I'm also keen to identify the maker of the box - might be Sampson Mordan & Co or Holland & Sons... Apparently Bramah & Co, the makers of the lock, also made writing slopes too! I'm sure an expert would be able to tell me. I dont rule out a visit to Christies or Sotheby's for the definitive answer but I fancy doing my own research first! ...

 

PS - Just found out that Bramah & Co's manufacturing site is in Romford, Essex...the birthplace of our lady Mrs Shirley! ...

Edited by Marlow

"Every job is good if you do your best and work hard.

A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have

nothing to do but smell."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

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"Every job is good if you do your best and work hard.

A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have

nothing to do but smell."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

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From one of the links kindly provided by pen2paper, the following description appears to describe the photograph quite well.

 

"An ambrotype photograph, is an image actually on glass, it was produced as a wet collodion positive on glass which was slightly bleached and made appear by placing something black behind it, paint, velvet etc. It was a slightly cheaper photograph than a daguerreotype which it replaced. They were first created in England in 1851 by Frederick Scott Archer and Peter Fry and named ambrotype by the Philadelphian photographer Marcus Root in 1854. The sizes were the same as the daguerreotype and the image produced was unique and reversed. They were sold in the 1850s for 6d or 1/-. Though replaced by carte-de-visite's some were still being produced in the early 1860s

 

Using the same case as a daguerreotype, the ambrotype was sealed inside a wooden case or a frame with a bright brass mount and under glass. The case was usually provided with a hinged lid and covered with leather or similar and some American cases were moulded using shellac with wood-fibre and gum and known as a Union case. The cases should not be taken apart or interfered with in any way.

 

They were displaced by the cheaper carte-de-visite photographs.

There is little to date them, as often no studio is named, so the best way is to see what the people were wearing (not easy). As a rough guide few will be as early as 1854, but large numbers were produced around 1858 before carte-de-visite were produced (1859/1860) and not so many up to 1866 (no real cut off date). So the bulk of them would be c.1858 plus or minus a few years. "

 

Given that the size range for an ambrotype was

 

"Sizes:

Whole plate 16.5cm x 21.5cm

Half plate 11.5cm x 14cm

Quarter plate 8.2cm x 10.8cm

One-sixth plate 6.8cm x 8.2cm

One-ninth plate 5cm x 6.3cm "

 

it seems likely that the nibbling of the glass around the photograph was in order to reduce the piece to locket-friendly dimensions.

 

I am now extra curious as to the miniature inside the frame, which also appears to be attached to a glass backing of some kind in addition to the glass front of the little frame..

 

Ok - enough for today! :happyberet:

Edited by Marlow

"Every job is good if you do your best and work hard.

A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have

nothing to do but smell."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

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It might be worth a one-month subscription to Ancestry.com (the UK version) to see if you can find any information on this lovely young lady.

 

While it is true that people, especially children, were photographed postmortem, I think you are right about the tension in the young woman's chin. I think she was alive when this shot was taken.

 

I wonder if perhaps the images are mother and daughter, perhaps the original owner's wife and child?

 

It literally gives me chills to see the history packed into this beautiful treasure chest. Probably every important piece of correspondence from this family was written upon this writing slop. I can only imagine the joy and sorrow this slope has been part of over the years.

 

I plan to follow this thread to see what other mysteries you discover about this Mary Jean Shirley and her family.

"You have to be willing to be very, very bad in this business if you're ever to be good. Only if you stand ready to make mistakes today can you hope to move ahead tomorrow."

Dwight V. Swain, author of Techniques of the Selling Writer.

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Marlow, while you are busy hunting back history, would you mind if I shared a fun photo, which has lots of fun clues as to what's occurring? We will always go back to the case itself, which is a beauty! *

It's your thread, entirely up to you : )

* Were there original ink bottles? Shangas will have some suggestions for you there. Size is an issue if I recall his original posts.

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Hi P!!

 

You're right. I had noticed that the photos reveal the lack of an inkwell. Inkwells for these types of boxes were typically one of two kinds.

 

1. Glass travelling inkwells with silver or brass-screw on hinged tops (think something like the hinged, screw-on cap on a traditional whiskey-flask).

 

2. Specially-made slot-in travelling inkwells, with lids that locked over the top to prevent leaks.

 

Here's my inkwell:

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/Writing%20Box/BoxDetail6.jpg

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/Writing%20Box/WritingBox6.jpg

 

The interior liner of the inkwell was probably once porcelain or glass. It was lost years ago. But I found a perfectly-sized modern replacement in a plastic cream-jar from the Body Shop. And it cost me nothing! It fits in the slot as if it was made for it!

http://www.throughouthistory.com/ - My Blog on History & Antiques

 

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Hi p2p - the courtesy of your question does justice to the genteel atmosphere evoked by this topic! I would love it if you posted your picture(s)! :happyberet:

 

Shangas - the little octagonal inkwell visible in the last photo of the original post, whilst an original victorian well, did not actually come with the slope. I have not yet found any quite small enough to fit whilst allowing the slope to be closed over them! The pointed tip of the octagonal lid to this one protrudes just 4mm too far! The two you show in your photos are delightful!

 

P - I, too, can hardly wait to find out more!

 

M :happyberet:

Edited by Marlow

"Every job is good if you do your best and work hard.

A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have

nothing to do but smell."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

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Said photo is nonexistent.

 

What you want for this sort of writing-box is something like this:

 

http://www.campaignfurniture.com/photos/80352.jpg

 

Low profile. Glass. Hinged brass locking cap (to prevent spills), to match the brass trim on the outside of the box. These are the kinds of inkwells that originally came with writing-boxes such as yours.

 

The inkwell would typically sit in the top right-hand slot at the top of the box. The other spaces might be for such things as matches, pounce, spare nibs, etc. It would look something like the following photographs. These are shots taken of my own writing-box. A Toulmin & Gale creation from the early 1860s:

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/Writing%20Box/IMG_0525-1.jpg

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/Writing%20Box/IMG_0563.jpg

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/Writing%20Box/IMG_0559.jpg

Edited by Shangas

http://www.throughouthistory.com/ - My Blog on History & Antiques

 

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Said photo is nonexistent.

 

 

Shangas, it's just visible to the right of the very last pic in my original post.

 

 

Also, I have spoken to the manufacturer of the lock, Bramah London, and they have confirmed they can definitely make a key for it and date at least the lock itself. Am in the process of arranging a time and date to take it to them! Hopefully they wont skin me alive on the price of the job! There's a 2nd lock on the upper compartment panel, too, which I will also get a key for! :happyberet:

"Every job is good if you do your best and work hard.

A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have

nothing to do but smell."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

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BTW, Shangas, your writing box is lovely! Love the little stationery compartments and the inkwells really finish it off beautifully! :thumbup:

"Every job is good if you do your best and work hard.

A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have

nothing to do but smell."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

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Thank you!!

 

The box is the one I mentioned earlier. I bought it last year at the Portobello Antiques Market in the West End and carried it all the way home to Australia. Those are all the original fittings (apart from the very authentic 1800s plastic inkwell insert!).

 

I'm very happy with it. The white pieces are elephant ivory. Everything else is brass, wood and leather.

 

This advertisement for the company and the box, I found in an index book of suppliers to the British Army, dated 1864. It gives the original price and finishings.

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/Writing%20Box/ToulminGaleAdvertisement1864.png

 

You can see the drawing of the box clearly in the photograph and it's the same one as I have. The prices listed are:

 

14 pounds 14 shillings (for box + dressing-case)

9 pounds 9 shillings (for first-rate writing-box)

5 pounds 5 shillings (for standard writing-box).

 

I think mine is the 9 pounds 9 shillings model. It certainly looks like it. It was using this ad that I was able to date the box to ca. 1862-64. That would make it roughly 150+ years old.

http://www.throughouthistory.com/ - My Blog on History & Antiques

 

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Oh, that's a lovely piece of provenance for your box! :thumbup:

 

Re the keys, they've just informed me that the lock will need to be dismantled to create a duplicate key as these locks were designed to be secure. This means I will have to get a professional restorer to remove the lock for me and then to replace it afterwards! This may well be quite a chunk of money! If and when I choose to do it I will certainly have two of each key made!!! I'm going to wait until after the 6th of september when a tv show called The Antiques Roadshow comes to a town near me to do valuations and appraisals. By then I will have done a lot of my own research to complement what the expert tells me!

 

:happyberet:

"Every job is good if you do your best and work hard.

A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have

nothing to do but smell."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

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I suspected as much, regarding the keys.

 

These old writing-boxes, especially ones like ours, were designed to be REALLY REALLY secure.

 

In fact, if you close my box, it locks automatically. You literally can't get to it without the key. If you lose it, you have a very nice 150-year-old doorstop and that's IT.

 

I keep the key tied to the box-handle for safety reasons.

http://www.throughouthistory.com/ - My Blog on History & Antiques

 

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