Dutch salted print - Seated Portrait of a Dutch Family of Four c1855
 
Early Dutch studio portrait depicting a seated man, woman, and two girls. The woman wears a lace-trimmed bonnet and a full crinoline skirt; the man is in formal dress. Children's garments feature mid-century patterned fabrics. The soft tonal quality and lack of sharp contrast identify the salted paper process, in use in Dutch studios around 1855/early 1860s.
 
The subjects are posed before a flat backdrop resembling paneled interior walls. The image was probably produced in a city studio in the Netherlands and reflects both Dutch fashion and studio portrait conventions of the early Victorian period.
 
Dimensions 21,3 x 17 cm