Description
An exceptionally rare late-Victorian cabinet card portraying a mother breastfeeding her infant during a formal studio portrait with her husband and four additional children. The family of seven is carefully arranged before the camera, creating a remarkable intersection of conventional Victorian portraiture and an intimate act of maternal care.
Photographed by C. H. Braithwaite of Briggate, Leeds, England, circa the 1880s. The photographer’s name and location are embossed in gold along the lower mount.
Breastfeeding was seldom depicted so openly in formal 19th-century studio photography. This image is especially compelling because the nursing mother is shown as part of a complete family group rather than in an isolated mother-and-child portrait.
Notable features include:
* Exceptionally scarce Victorian breastfeeding subject
* Complete family portrait with both parents and five children
* Infant actively nursing at the mother’s breast
* Identified Leeds photographer, C. H. Braithwaite
* Original gold-lettered cabinet card mount
* Child prominently dressed in a period sailor suit
* Strong appeal to collectors of women’s history, maternal history, early childcare, social history, medical history, Leeds history, and antique photography
The image retains strong detail in the faces, clothing, lace collars, and family arrangement. The mount exhibits expected age-related edge and corner wear, light discoloration, and handling marks. The reverse is blank with general antique wear.
A powerful and historically significant photographic record of Victorian motherhood and family life, with a subject rarely encountered in surviving cabinet card photography.
Please view all the photos carefully for the complete appearance and condition of this important image.
