Cabinet Card Photograph of Two Girls in Alsatian Dress with the Banner of the Société Colmarienne of New York.
New York: Fredericks’ Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, n.d., likely late 1880s. Cabinet card photograph measuring approximately 4 ¼ x 6 ½ inches. Photograph shows two girls in traditional Alsatian dress standing on either side of a large embroidered banner for the Société Colmarienne of New York, with shield, crossed tools, and Alsatian-style bow headdresses. Photographer’s imprint on mount reads “Fredericks, 770 Broadway, N.Y.” Verso with Fredericks’ Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery imprint and blindstamp of “Société Colmarienne,” founded October 28, 1886. Light wear, toning, and fading; very good. Item #List3863 A cabinet card photograph of two young girls posed with the banner of the Société Colmarienne, an Alsatian immigrant association in New York. The society took its name from Colmar, the Alsatian city that was also the birthplace of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. The founding date on the society’s blindstamp, October 28, 1886, is the date of the Statue of Liberty dedication in New York Harbor. Alsatian immigrant societies in New York had a particular meaning after the Franco-Prussian War. Alsace was annexed by the German Empire in 1871, leaving Alsatian emigrants in the United States with a regional identity that was at once French, German-speaking or bilingual, and politically tied to the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. Societies such as this one served ordinary mutual aid and social purposes, but they also preserved Alsatian regional identity and, in many cases, expressed continuing attachment to France. The girls’ dress, the society banner, and the carefully staged studio setting suggest a public or ceremonial use, possibly connected to a society event, anniversary, or patriotic celebration. The Bartholdi and Liberty connection gives the image an additional New York context: Colmar’s most famous son had just supplied the city with its major Franco-American monument, while Alsatian associations participated in the broader French immigrant culture around the dedication. Considering the datestamp, it is very plausible that the photograph was taken on the occasion of the ceremonies surrounding the opening of the Statue of Liberty.
Price: $450.00