An unidentified boy with an oversized head superimposed onto his seated body is the subject of this comic trick photograph, paired in this lot with a second carte-de-visite showing the same boy standing beside a bearded man, likely his father, who examines a photograph held in his hand. Both are albumen prints on period mounts consistent with the 1860s. No photographer's imprint is visible on either card.<BR><BR>
In the trick image, the boy's disproportionately large head sits atop a small seated body, his hands resting in his lap and his feet not quite reaching the floor, with a patterned tile floor and plain studio backdrop visible behind him. In the companion image, the same boy (slightly heavy for the era) stands in a light-colored suit with his hand resting on the shoulder of the seated man, who wears a dark frock coat, vest, and bow tie and points to an image he holds at arm's length. Both figures stand on the same patterned tile floor against a draped studio backdrop.<BR><BR>
Photographic novelty images using darkroom manipulation to exaggerate proportions for comic effect were a popular sideline for studios in the 1860s, and the pairing of a straightforward family portrait with its comic counterpart offers a rare side by side example of the genre and its source material.