Love’s Photograph.
A woman sits in an armchair and looks back at a man who stands behind her. The man
leans over the chair so that his left arm
rests on it while he gestures to the woman with his right arm. The woman holds a photograph
in her lap. Beside them, there is a
large window and a hanging plant. Through the window, the peak of a building and clouds
are visible. This domestic scene is
contained within an oval border, which is surrounded by a double-ruled rectangular
border. The oval and the rectangular border are
attached on four sides by multiple looped rings. The position of the two borders evokes
a picture frame. The space between the two
borders features babies who hold various objects (a mask, paint brushes and a painting
palette, and a camera) and perform various
actions (acting, painting, posing, and taking photographs). There are decorative curved
lines in the empty spaces between the
babies. 1/2 page illustration.
[Laura is duly “engaged,” and offers Charles her
photographic likeness.]
photographic likeness.]
I’ve a portrait already of thee, ladie mine,1
Love used the photographer’s art.2
You look’d for awhile with your bonny bright smile,3
And ’twas fix’d on my sensitive heart.4
You do not believe it ? Then see in my eyes5
This image that dwells in my breast,6
Thy miniature, beauty mine, loving and gay,7
Jumps up to convince you, and when you’re away,8
Sinks back to the place of its rest.9