Unusual (and Very Painterly) Hybrid: 19th Century Albumen Cabinet Card Photo of Dog with Painted Backdrop vignettes with the seven gesturing hands

with the seven gesturing hands to my eye together making for quite a satisfying composition

presumably the year of its making

) With both negatives taken in the same spot

which I think is a good thing

with ink as strong as if written yesterday and paper in good condition

Unusual (and Very Painterly) Hybrid: 19th Century Albumen Cabinet Card Photo of Dog with Painted Backdrop vignettes with the seven gesturing handsAt first I took this for a photograph of a painting of a dog, but I believe in fact the portrait of the dog, and the carpet it lies on, is photographic; it is just the background that was painted. And with some blurring of the lines along the back of the dog where photo and illusion meet, yielding a very atmospheric and painterly portrait of a clearly much beloved pet. With Howard & Co.'s Plattsburgh, NY printed on the back of the cabinet card all of