![Ornamental photographic accessories, c. 1867](/sites/default/files/styles/max_1300x1300/public/2021-08/P2016-100.jpg?itok=z1379EVV)
Ornamental photographic accessories, c. 1867
Edward L. Wilson and John G. Hood, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ornamental photographic accessories, c. 1867
Albumen silver print
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas
Three times larger and a bit wider than cartes de visite— the leading portrait format they replaced—cabinet cards left plenty of room for props. Immediately after the cards’ introduction, leading suppliers started producing a myriad of such accessories, from ornamental vases to a wide assortment of fences, furniture, rocks, and even stone walls, all made of papier-mâché. This card was created as advertising copy by Edward L. Wilson, who, in addition to running a photographic supply house, was a photographer and the publisher of the Philadelphia Photographer.