Friday's Photo: The Fringed Posing Chair

Tillman C. Bryan
ca. 1860s

Redic E. Bryan
ca. 1874

A few weeks ago, I posted this childhood photo of my grandfather (left) taken in or next to a posing chair with fringe on the arm. 

Upholstered posing chairs with fringe appeared in photographers' studios in the 1860s and remained popular through the 1870s. 

I have access to many photos from family collections containing such a chair. This chair is one of many clues to help to identify the time at which the photo may have been taken.

These photos, probably taken in the 1860s and 1870s, are about 150 years old. Three of the photos are unidentified. All of the photos were thought to have been taken in or near Bienville Parish, Louisiana. 

These unidentified young men are seen in photos from the Frye family collection. 

This unidentified young man is from a Sledge family collection. 

Photos of this family are from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. 
At the top are James Bryan and his wife, Alice Mary Wimberly. Below the couple are their
adopted children, John Terrell Bryan and Sarah Josephine "Josie" Bryan. 
The children's biological parents were Joseph Bryan (brother to James) and Sarah
Margaret Wimberly Bryan (sister to Alice). Judging from the age of the children, the
photos were taken in the late 1860s or very early 1870s.

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.

Diana

© 2023 

James Bryan family photos, ca 1860s-1870s; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

Redic E. Bryan, photograph, ca.1874; digital image, from the privately held photo collection of D.B. Quinn, 2023.

"Signs of the Times," Family Tree Magazine  (https://familytreemagazine.com/uncategorized/finding-date-clues-in-family-photos/ : accessed 13 April 2023). 

Sledge Photo, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary V. Smith, Alaska, 2004. 

Tillman C. Bryan, photograph/tintype, ca.1860s; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of the H. Forstmann, CT, 2020. Used with permission. 

Two unidentified young men, photographs, n.d.; scanned images, from the privately held photo collection of the Frye Family, San Francisco, 2019.