An unidentified man in a theatrical Native American costume sits between two unidentified women in everyday dress in this cabinet card by Schriver and Killer of 1213 North 3rd Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, dating to the mid-1890s based on the women's sleeve silhouette and mount format. The contrast between the man's elaborate costume and the women's conventional clothing suggests this was made as a novelty or theatrical portrait rather than a performance commission, a common studio practice in the period when costumes were kept on hand for customers to wear.
The man sits in a studio chair wearing a heavily fringed buckskin jacket with a beaded or decorative chest piece, matching fringed trousers, bare feet, and a long dark wig with a feather headdress. He has a knife in his belt. He holds his hands loosely in his lap and faces the camera with a neutral expression. The woman at left wears a dark dress with a crocheted shawl and a ribbon bow in her upswept hair. The woman at right wears a white lace capelet over a dark skirt with a floral hair ornament.
The mount face bears the embossed gold imprint of Schriver and Killer, 1213 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg, Pa. in a decorative cartouche at the lower center.
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