Gem tintype captures a poised young sitter holding her beloved companion. A plaid dress with puffed sleeves and lace collar frames the face, while a jaunty cap adds studio-day flair. The doll wears a striped skirt and bonnet, its dark cloth face and button eyes stealing a touch of the spotlight. The child meets the lens with the steady look of someone who knows her doll is the real celebrity.<br><br>Made in the diminutive gem format popular from the Civil War era into the 1870s, the portrait reflects how families used inexpensive metal photographs to record childhood and treasured toys. Black cloth dolls appear infrequently in period studio work and offer a window into nineteenth-century domestic life and the material culture of American children.<br><br>Appealing to collectors of vernacular photography, tintype albums, and historic toys, the image brings together two sought subjects in one neat frame. A concise study in scale and sentiment, ready to anchor a page in a gem album or to stand alone as a conversation piece.