Harley Family Home

DatePossibly 1890-1910

MediumPhotographic emulsion on paper mounted on cardboard

DimensionsOverall: 9 11/16" x 11 1/4" and Image: 6 7/16" 8 1/4"

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Arlene Quick in memory of her parents, Albert J. and Ida W. Tonn

Object number2005.510.1

DescriptionA rather badly damaged photogaphic image on paper mounted on a much larger piece of cardboard. The photo shows a two-story frame house, turned at an angle to the viewer, painted a light color with dark trim, and having, on the front, a porch running nearly the width of the building. The columns of the front porch are festooned with a green vine. A second, smaller porch can be seen on the side. A pile of rocks sets at the near corner of the house. Three deer are in front of the house, two does lying down and a fawn standing.

Photographer unidentified.
Label TextDespite its poor condition, this photograph was essential in firmly identifying the subjects of other surviving photos showing the house built in Riverton Township, Mason County, Michigan, and inherited by artist Steve Harley. The house burned to the ground on April 10, 1927.

Arlene Tonn Quick inherited this photo from her parents, but it is thought to have been taken prior to the Tonn family's occupation of the farmhouse and, thus, is presumed to have belonged to Steve Harley before the Tonns.
InscribedIn blue ink in script on the reverse of the cardboard secondary support is: "fire burned house/April 10--1927".
ProvenanceAARFAM's donor, Arlene Quick, spent several years of her childhood in the house shown here, the Mason County, Michigan, house inherited by artist Steve Harley that was leased, then sold, to Quick's parents, Albert J. and Ida W. Tonn. This photo apparently was given to Quick by her parents.