Objects

The photograph on a gray-green cardboard depicts a standing bearded man (on the right) and a seated woman (on the left). The man is dressed in a coat and a round cap with a short brim – attire typical of Russian Jews. He is leaning his left hand on a prop from the photographic studio (a fragment of neo-baroque balustrade featuring, among other things, a child's head). The woman, sitting on a bamboo (?) chair, slightly smiling and appearing older than the man, is wearing a black wig adorned with artificial flowers (corresponding to the flowers in the background). She is dressed in a dark dress with wide sleeves ending in cuffs. A chain with an ornate clasp is hanging around her neck, and both ends run down from the clasp; she is holding a book on her lap with her right hand. Rings adorn both hands – on the left ring finger, on the right index finger. In the background, there is a cabinet card painted model or curtain. The photograph was taken in the late 19th or early 20th century in the studio of Stanisław Karpiński. However, the facility producing cardboard cutouts for the studio operated, apparently, only in the 1890s . (see Wacław Żdżarski, "Historia fotografii warszawskiej", p. 83). However, this does not prejudge the dating of the photograph itself, as the cardboard cutout produced may still have been stored by the studio and used after the lithographic studio was closed, especially in the branches. The photograph could have been taken in Łęczyca or at the main studio in Kutno, where Karpiński ran a photographic studio at Stary Rynek 2 (2 Old Square). He also had a branch in Łowicz, however, the vignette on this photograph does not indicate it (see https://kutno.net.pl/kultura-i-edukacja/zdjecia-zobacz-kutno-na-starych-fotografiach/q3Cv2UdNSYsP5yp1Z3yI; https://doczz.pl/doc/553801/pobierz-pdf---nowy-%C5%82owiczanin).