The unidentified woman in this photograph is wearing a drop-waist dress and a Marcel Wave hairstyle, hallmarks of the flapper era of the 1920s. The photograph is about the size of a postcard, but was printed on plain photo paper, rather than postcard stock. It came to me from a dealer in Pennsylvania who often sells photos from Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey, but I don’t know if it originated in one of those areas or not.
Images like this one remind us that African-American women actively participated in the popular culture of the Jazz Age and helped to define it.
I like how she uses the vase to create an elegant and graceful pose.
Lovely photograph, love how her left foot is elegantly turned.
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My eye was caught by that as well.
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Yes, it’s almost a dancer’s pose. It makes me wonder if she might have been a performer. Or maybe she just liked to dance.
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I like how she looks directly into the camera and has a rather mysterious smile. I wonder if the photo was taken to celebrate a special occasion. That looks like an engagement ring. Love the shoes!
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I’ll bet you’re right about it being an engagement portrait. I would wear those shoes in a heartbeat.
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My original title for this post was “Mystery woman with vase.” I just KNOW her story would be really interesting. Her shoes do look comfortable and stylish!
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A great image!
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Thank you, Carol!
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I agree with magickmermaid; She is showing off her new engagement ring! Great photo!
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Haha, I hadn’t given much thought to the ring, but you could be right. Thanks so much, Shayne.
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I haven’t been reminded of marceled hair in some time. She’s so lovely. What is that on her arm? I decided it might be a bracelet of some sort, with the band less visible in the photo. If you hadn’t mentioned it in your text, I wouldn’t have thought of her as African American. I followed your link, but still wasn’t sure if this woman is Josephine Baker. I don’t think so — if not, do you know this woman’s identity?
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I didn’t mean to suggest that this might be Josephine Baker. This woman is unidentified, so I’ve added that word to the beginning of the post. I’m sorry that was confusing! The back of the photo is completely blank, unfortunately.
She seems to be wearing a bracelet in the shape of a watch. At least, I don’t think it’s a watch. Thank you for your helpful feedback, Linda!
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Even with flowers, I sometimes forget the little details that would make an image understandable to people, or say things that are ambiguous. I always like it when people ask questions or tell me they’re confused. Whoever the woman is, she’s just lovely — and so self-assured.
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I always wrestle with how much to say. I think a little context is good, but the focus should be on the photo, not my text. I don’t know if I struck a good balance in this post. Maybe I should have just let the photo speak for itself.
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A very fetching young lady!
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I very much agree! I thought about “Telling Sonny” and vaudeville when putting this post together. 🙂
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Thanks for mentioning “Telling Sonny,” Brad! I think this young lady would have caught Slim White’s eye.
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The rascal! 😉
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This definitely looks like an engagement photo, and those shoes, T-straps for sure! My favorites when I was a child but seemed like sandals. Long before flip-flops came along, we dealt with sand filling our shoes 🙂 What a lovely, graceful pose, demure but confident…I love it!
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Thank you for your kind words, Mary Jo! Honestly it never occurred to me this might be an engagement photo, but if that’s the consensus, I’m happy to go along! 🙂
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That is a beautiful image. I concur with those who think it’s an engagement photo. I don’t think I would have immediately snapped on her being African-American if you hadn’t mentioned it. I didn’t know about Marcel waves before, though I did peg this for the 1920s.
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I know little about fashions and trends, but the Twenties were a great decade for fashion photography, spurred by the growth of the silent film industry and by film and fashion magazines. I think later decades are less interesting, as fashion photography became more of an industry and less of an art.
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She seems so at ease in front of the camera. Her pose oozes confidence. Surely she was a performer of some kind.
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I suspect you’re right. A singer or a dancer. Maybe another picture of her will turn up. Unlikely, but I always hope!
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She’s beautiful! I feel a sense of both strength and serenity that inspires me deeply 🌷
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That’s so nice of you to say! This is a photo that really benefits from being enlarged. The original print looks good, but I was struck by how beautiful it is when I looked at the large scan on my laptop. Wish we knew something about her life….
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My first thought when I saw her with the vase was that she might be a potter who makes such beautiful vases. But it is more probably a studio prop, used to create her elegant pose. I never thought of ‘engagement portrait’ as a category, but it makes sense.
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When you think about how young people were when they first married in previous generations, a portrait could signal a coming-of-age. With or without an engagement, it could signal that a young woman is mature enough to enter society (‘come out’).
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Everything about this photograph is elegant and graceful: the vase, the table, and the young woman herself. I agree with a previous commenter who raved about her shoes. They’re fabulous!
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Well said, Ruth! Always nice of you to stop by!
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lovely image!
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Thank you! 🙂
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The pose and the look are all staged beautifully. Thanks for showing us this rare photograph.
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Thank you for the nice comment!
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