“…I’d guess around nineteen-ten or so. The elaborate embroidery and high neckline suggest that; anyway. It’s also before women really got into wearing fancy wide-brimmed hats….Yeah, nineteen-ten-ish, I think” Helen replied.
“That’s what I was thinking too” Andrea affirmed.
“I wish we knew who she was,” I said.
“My God, I just realized, she looks like Lovey, Tim” Andrea suddenly said, squeezing my arm slightly.
The girl in the one-hundred-year-old portraiture did have a striking resemblance to my mother, or more specifically, my Aunt Elsie.
“Do you think she’s Swedish also?” Andrea asked me.
My mother had been Swedish.
“…Could be, but I would guess more mid-European. She may have been German or Polish, I think I would lean more toward that direction because of her petite size, but who knows? She’s very fair-skinned so I would rule out any place with an extremely harsh climate” I said.
“It does almost look like she has a Texas suntan,” Andrea said.
“Look at the pendant,” I said, nodding agreement to Andrea’s observation.
The heart-shaped pendant within the portraiture beheld a bearded man with praying hands.
“It’s Jesus” Andrea answered.
“Must be” I replied speculatively.
“As a man, what does the photo say to you, Tim?” my wife asked, looking at me very intently.
…For a brief few seconds, I let myself be a single, unwedded man again as I studied the tintype closely.
“You’ve studied beautiful women, your whole life, Tim, speak freely,” Andrea encouraged me.
I was silent for several more long seconds just studying the girl.
“(sigh) We’re fortunate, because the portrait is so large and clear, for something taken so long ago.
I’m not a psychologist by any means but I do understand body language and human nature to some degree, Andrea, and this girl is saying a lot with her body language and demeanor.
…She’s haunted by something from her past, I think. Her demeanor reminds me a lot of my ex-wife, Susan. Susan had issues from her past that haunted her…
Look at this girl’s eyes, she’s extremely intelligent and it wouldn’t surprise me if she spoke one or more other languages fluently, which wasn’t that uncommon at the turn of the century because many people had only recently immigrated to America during that time and she looks like she may have been an immigrant for some reason, to me.
I also see a woman that’s been scorned, but I’m not exactly sure why I feel that way. She’s probably somewhat of a religious fanatic but her faith may be all that’s left between her and sanity. This is not the type of lady who trusts others easily, a person would have to EARN her trust over a very long period of time. I’d say she’s a loner, probably with no more than one or possibly two friends whom she would die for; if need be…
She’s a propper lady in the eyes of her peers but I also see a woman that has lived on the edge, probably through no fault of her own. If the photo had been taken today, I would say she’s been around a rough crowd, maybe bikers. Her dress is buttoned completely to her throat yet her hair is wild, out of control really, and not conservative like other Victorian women I’ve seen photos of. The girl in this tintype indicates to me that she doesn’t seem to care what others think of her.
…She’s extremely frustrated somehow, maybe she felt that the elites of the Gilded Age were phony, maybe they hadn’t accepted her into their social cliques…
She looks at men objectively, not for love but probably as some form of mental escape from reality, or maybe another motive such as revenge against an unfaithful husband. Sex for her; was most likely manic yet it held no emotional significance for her. She was probably addicted to the thrill of the chase with deep remorse following each time afterward. I believe that it was most likely, her, who decorated this house with all of the erotic angels. She probably saw love as a heavenly ideal yet not attainable within this life…
I believe that she probably felt isolated in this huge house and most likely had an addictive personality as a result of neglect or possibly some misfortune. Maybe she’s just angry at men in general, this photo was taken toward the end of the Victorian era when women were expected to bear children and be admired as status symbols but not heard.
…They were also expected to tolerate their husbands’ mistresses.
I see a woman that’s extremely frustrated with life, in general. Men have gawked at this woman, her whole life, viewing her only as an exotic trophy to acquire. She was always greatly appreciated for her physical appearance but not for who she was as a person. Her idols would probably have been women such as Amelia Earhart and Annie Oakley. Her daily fantasies would be to emulate such women.
…Her eyes are veiled to a degree which tells me that she may have been guilt-ridden for some reason, possibly extramarital affairs. Or maybe she’d just never had her photo taken before and felt uncomfortable with the whole process but I find that hard to believe, as attractive as she is.