Altered images: wasp waists in 1880s studio portraits from Cork and Belfast

 

Cabinet Card by Sauvy, 64A Patrick Street, Cork, Ireland, ca. 1885 (author’s collection)

 

 

Carte-de-visite studio portrait by T. Plimmer, 19 High Street, Belfast, ca. 1885. (author’s collection)

These studio portraits from the 1880s show two unfeasibly narrow-waisted women. One was taken in the Cork studio run by Paris-born Adam Alphonse Sauvy and the other by Thomas Plimmer in Belfast. Of course, these women would have been aided by some seriously constricting corsetry, however, upon closer inspection they also reveal that the photographic studio has aided them with some carefully placed retouching or ‘photoshopping.’

Both these close-ups show that the negatives have been doctored to create these wasp waists. If you look closely you can see where the waists were quite crudely reduced through the painting-in of a triangular shape on the negative.

Both outfits typify the mid-1880s. The Belfast lady’s stripped two-piece includes a basque bodice trimmed with jet beads. A high collar with an attached jabot, lace cuffs, and a draped over-skirt. The Cork woman’s lace outfit also includes a draped over-skirt and high neckline. Both wear corsages and the horse-shoe brooch worn at the neck of the Sauvy portrait is typical of the period. Fashionable hair was curled, centre-parted and loosely piled and combed upwards with curls around the forehead.

I love the way the studio props complement and mimic and the textures of the women’s outfits. Brocade curtains and velvet upholstery add to the visual layers in these images.

National Library of Ireland, Lawrence Collection, L_ROY_01918

Thanks to the preservation of the Lawrence photographic collection at the National Library of Ireland, we can see exactly where the Sauvy image was taken. The image above shows the Paris Studio on the upper floors of 64 Patrick Street, Cork. Unlike many of the studios, which sought cachet through fanciful connections with continental Europe, Sauvy was really born in Paris. He ran his Cork studio at this location between 1879 and 1893. This photograph shows that his studio was well-positioned on a main thoroughfare although he did have plenty of local competition. Other studios on Patrick Street alone included Henry Hunter at No. 28; Berlin Studio at No.61; Francis Guy at No.70 and William O’Callaghan at No. 102. Note the roof top addition which was most likely added around the time of this notice which appeared in the Cork Examiner on the 2nd of October, 1882:

“The photographic art – Mr. A. Sauvy’s studio, in Patrick Street, has undergone enlargement and renovation, and it is now among one of the best in the kingdom. New backgrounds and scenery have been erected in the operating room, while specimens of art on view outside and inside the studio are of the newest and best description. Those who patronize Mr. Sauvy are certain to get well executed photographs.”

Sauvy also had a branch on Dublin’s Grafton Street and appears to have lived in Dublin. One of his addresses was on the upmarket Morehampton Road and one of his children, Celestine, was born at Holles Street hospital in 1884. Sauvy died in Paris in 1916.

The Paris Studio on Partick Street was sold to German-born August Tuhten in 1893. Perhaps Tuhten was one of the many European assistants that Sauvy boasted of in his advertisements? Tuhten was resident in Cork from at least 1882 when he was listed as a mason in Cork’s Hibernian lodge. Prior to his Cork career, he had a family in London with Anna Zimmern. Their three children were born in Stoke Newington, London, in the 1870s. He also had several art-associated ventures in London and Leicester. He ran the Paris Studio in Cork up until the early 1890s. In the 1901 census he is listed as a ‘boarder’ in the Leicester home of Cork-born Louisa McCarthy. One wonders if they met in Cork? Their first child, Ivy, was born in Leeds in 1893 and was registered as Ivy McCarthy. A son Fred was born in Leeds in 1898 and another Alan in London in 1906. The entire family went to Canada in 1907 settling at first in British Columbia. This second relationship does not appear to have lasted and by 1916 August is living alone and states that he is a widow. He died in Hardisty, Alberta, in 1932. Louisa died in Powell River, British Columbia in 1961 at the age of 93.

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All the Fun of the Fair, Queen’s College, Belfast, May 1894

This photographic souvenir of the Students’ Union Fête at Queen’s College, Belfast was produced by the well-known photographer Abernethy. The 1894 fête/fair was organised to raise funds for a new building and was a spectacular event. Its various attractions and exhibits are outlined in detail in an accompanying guide called The Book of the Fair which was published by Olley & Co. It provides a fascinating insight into the commercial and social life of the city in the late nineteenth century.

The stalls were run by students and the wives and daughters of local aristocracy and merchants. George Morrow & Son provided the decoration for part of a spectacle known as Pomona’s Palace which featured an Enchanted Forest and the Realm of the Ice King! Stallholders adopted various costumes and these were outlined in detail in the guide. The Art stall attendants were dressed in “the style of Kate Greenaway.” Medical students wore a skull and crossbones motif. The women at stall No. 7 entitled ‘The Snowdrift’ wore “white crepon dresses, white white silk fichus, white picture hats with plumes, and powdered hair.”

The photographic stall was run by the city’s foremost commercial photographic firms including Allison & Allison, Hembry, Kilpatrick, Nielsen and Reid Brothers. A photographic studio was constructed on the grounds of the college which was sponsored by James Wilson and guaranteed that “sitters will receive finished proofs within a few hours.” In addition to cabinet photographs the photographers offered ‘Midget’ photographs like the one featured above. I was able to ascertain that this portrait was taken by Abernethy on either Friday 26th of May or Saturday the 27th. Abernethy advertised elsewhere in the guide boasting that he had two premises: one at High Street, Belfast and a Printing and Finishing works at Bloomfield stating that “work finished in the suburbs is free from fog and smoke, which often spoil photographs finished in the city.”

The other advertisements in the guide give a real flavour of the city’s commercial life and included: Dunville & Co. Limited, Royal Irish Distilleries, Belfast who claimed to be the largest holders of whiskey in the world; The Franklin Steam Laundry, Belfast to whom one could send dirty linen by train; Anderson Brothers, 12 Royal Avenue, Belfast who specialised in re-covering umbrellas and another advertisement offered the ‘Martlet’ brand of non-alcoholic Pilsener for “advocates of temperance.”

I really like the fact that this portrait can be linked to a specific event and despite its small size, only H 48mm x W 28mm, the image is strong and clear. The surrounding mount depicts the college’s main building designed by Charles Lanyon in a Gothic Revival style. Whoever the sitter was, I hope he enjoyed all the fun of the fair which included a ‘Living Aunt Sally’ under the management of the Arts Students and a performance by the Clifton Banjo Society!

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