Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Wed, Jun 24, 2026 11:00AM EDT
Lot 111

RPPC, African American Infant on Fur Rug, Unidentified

Estimate: $25 - $50

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
An African American infant sits upright on a large fur rug, looking directly at the camera in this real photo postcard. The divided-back format with "Correspondence Here" and "Name and Address Here" text places production after 1907. No photographer's imprint appears, the subject is unidentified, and the reverse is unmarked and unmailed. A partially legible faint inscription appears along the lower front border but is not clearly readable.

The infant wears a long white christening-style gown with a pintucked or gathered front bodice, both small fists raised and visible at the sides. The fur rug, likely sheepskin, is arranged to cradle and surround the child, curling up on both sides and behind the head to frame the figure against a plain light background. The child's expression is direct and composed, the gaze meeting the camera steadily.

Infant portraits on fur rugs were a standard studio convention of the early twentieth century across American commercial photography, though examples documenting African American infants in this period carry additional significance as evidence of Black family investment in formal portraiture during the Jim Crow era, when access to mainstream studios was often restricted and Black photographers increasingly served their own communities.

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