Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Wed, Jun 24, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-06-24 11:00:00 2026-06-24 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/june-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-23574
Our June 2026 auction presents a focused and exceptional selection of historical photographs spanning the 1840s through the early twentieth century, with unusual depth in named subjects, rare formats, and documented provenance anchored by strong vernacular material that rewards close looking.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 569

Real Photo Postcard, Chinese Cook, Wife and Daughter with bound feet, China

Estimate: $25 - $50
Starting Bid
$10

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $5,000
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
Three figures pose outside a brick building in this real photo postcard, identified in ink along the lower image border as "Cook, wife & daughter - L.H. Sittenos." The divided-back postcard format and undivided correspondence area place production in the early twentieth century, consistent with the date notation 30/02/11 inscribed on the reverse. No photographer's imprint is visible.

The man at left sits in a chair holding a small dog in his lap, dressed in a padded jacket and light trousers with cloth-soled shoes. The woman at center wears a layered quilted robe with horizontal stripe trim and a dark wrapped headcloth, her bound feet visible beneath her hem in small shoes. The young woman at right stands in a dark quilted jacket with wide cuffs over a patterned floral skirt, her expression direct. A latticed window and exposed brick courtyard wall fill the background.

Bound feet, visible on the seated woman, were a practice that persisted in rural and working-class communities in China well into the early Republican period, making this image a rare domestic record of a Chinese household worker's family during that transitional era.

The reverse bears the pencil notation "Cook, Sittenos's cook, wife, daughter" written inversely, along with additional penciled markings including "CHINA," "30/02/11," and catalog notations "E3" and "4E."

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