Lot 119

Boy with Pet Parrot Cabinet Card, Randall West Jefferson Ohio

Estimate: $50 - $400

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
Cabinet card portrait of a young boy posed beside a small table draped with patterned fabric, resting his hand near a live perched parrot. The child wears a dark one-piece outfit with a large plaid bow at the collar and buttoned boots, standing confidently in a traditional studio interior setting with painted backdrop and architectural elements.

The mount bears the imprint “Randall, Photographer, West Jefferson, Ohio.” Studios in small Midwestern towns often used birds, animals, and other props to add visual interest to children’s portraits, creating compositions that combined portraiture with symbolic or novelty elements. The bird in this photograph serves as a focal point and may represent either a pet brought to the studio or a prop supplied by the photographer.

The reverse carries a period pencil inscription reading “This is Christie,” identifying the bird depicted in the photograph. Cabinet cards such as this were popular family keepsakes in the late nineteenth century and often served as personal mementos documenting childhood within local community studios.

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