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DS1987-485
Portrait, Tintype of "Mollie Johnson"
DS1987-485

Portrait, Tintype of "Mollie Johnson"

Date1856-1860
Subject Mollie Johnson
OriginAmerica, Virginia
MediumBlack japanned sheet iron
DimensionsOW: 1 1/2" x OH: 2 1/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1987-716,2
DescriptionThis is a small rectangular tintype (ferrograph or malainotype) portrait of a woman shown from waist up. The woman has straight hair parted in the middle and pulled black severely. She wears a white collar and tie under a dark dress with dropped shoulders and full sleeves. The dress appears to have front buttons and gathered fabric from shoulders to point in center front waist. White paper covers the reverse of the tintype. Written in ink on the white paper is the name "Mollie Johnson."
Label TextThis tintype portrait of Mollie Johnson descended through the Johnson family along with a dated 1742 sampler created by an earlier family member. Both the sampler and portrait were found in a farmhouse near West Point, Virginia.
Inscribed"Mollie Johnson"
ProvenanceThis tintype was found in a farm house near West Point, Virginia, along with a 1742 sampler by Mary Johnson, who was thought to be an ancestor of Mollie Johnson.