Dead woman with an indelible expression (Victorian post-mortem photograph)
Dead woman with an indelible expression (Victorian post-mortem photograph)
photographs

Dead woman with an indelible expression (Victorian post-mortem photograph)



"E. M. Mills / 4:15 am May 18th 1904 / at rest"

The insccription on the verso indicates this as a post-mortem photograph—and we tend to think the mottled hair would have been better attended to by a living woman sitting for a portrait. Lips parted just enough for a ghost.

Large CDV, 6.5 x 4.25 inches. Singer photography studio, Freeport Pa. Edges chipped and surface scuffed, but a beautiful image and great example of how effectively post-mortem photography could capture the living.