“Mature Woman Elegantly Coiffed and Attired”

Lewis Dowe’s Portrait Photograph of a “Mature Woman Elegantly Coiffed and Attired”

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THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:

LEWIS DOWE was born in 1838 in Hanover, New Hampshire and died in 1919 in Portland, Oregon. He arrived in Petaluma in September of 1875 and set up his photography studio in the rooms formerly occupied by photographer Hugh Anderson. Dowe worked in Petaluma as both a “view” and portrait photographer until he departed the town in March of 1882. (For additional information on this photographer and to view all portraits by him in the collection, click on his name in blue above.)

THE SITTER:

Name: Unidentified

Description: This head-and-shoulders portrait depicts an elegantly coiffed and attired mature woman. Her dark eyes look attentively and confidently up and to her right. Her hair is meticulously arranged. Waved sections of hair fall from both sides of her center part, and mounded behind the part is a bun adorned with dark beads. Down her left side fall three, long, glossy sausage curls which may be a switch hairpiece. A large, pendant earring hangs from her left earlobe; a prominent brooch is pinned just below her velvet scarf; and a heavy cord ending in an elaborate knot surrounds her neck. She wears a textured jacket with shoulder pleats and a butterfly lapel in a contrasting fabric.

Biographical Note:

Family Affiliation:

Bibliography:

 THE PHOTOGRAPH:

Format / Size:  cabinet card

Medium: albumen photographic print mounted on cardstock

Description, front: Lewis Dowe’s imprint in the form of his signature appears on the bottom left edge. Along the bottom right edge is printed, “Petaluma, Cal”.

Description, back: The back of this cabinet card is blank or contains only an accession number

Date: September 1875 - March 1882

Condition: This cabinet card is soiled and has dark stains along its right boarder and one above the photographer’s imprint on the lower left.

Owner:  Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 1992-IDI-06-p8-p8, Harris/Lodge Family Album

Reproduction rights: The Petaluma Museum Association makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to the digitized images here reproduced.  These images are intended for personal or research use only. Any other kind of use, including, but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the Association. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.