Need Help Identifying This King Kelly Cabinet

[BeanTown]

Wow! I have never seen that in 30 years of collecting. Very cool item you have there Brian

[2dueces]

Wow

[Leon]

Originally Posted by 2dueces

Wow

*I agree. That cabinet is cool. I always like this kind of pose of Kelly...
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[D. Bergin]

I don't want to burst any bubbles, but it looks like a photo (possibly albumen?) of an already existing hanging framed photo, which was then trimmed and pasted to a photo studio mount.

Couldn't say exactly when it was made, but I'd guess late 1910's to early 1920's.

Still pretty cool, but I sense it's a really old (hopefully), fantasy piece.

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

I don't want to burst any bubbles, but it looks like a photo (possibly albumen?) of an already existing hanging framed photo, which was then trimmed and pasted to a photo studio mount.

Still pretty cool, but I sense it's a really old (hopefully), fantasy piece.

A fantasy piece was my first thought as well. It just looks...off.

[Leon]

I guess I should have said cool, if real. It is kind of shiny. First thing I thought of was a Ramly.
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[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

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[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

I don't want to burst any bubbles, but it looks like a photo (possibly albumen?) of an already existing hanging framed photo, which was then trimmed and pasted to a photo studio mount.

Couldn't say exactly when it was made, but I'd guess late 1910's to early 1920's.

Still pretty cool, but I sense it's a really old (hopefully), fantasy piece.

These were most of my immediate thoughts as well, but this is not my area of the hobby. Didn't wish to be like so much of the internet and weigh in with an opinion lacking in true knowledge. It was only a logical observation on my part, but nice to hear I wasn't alone in the thought.

But, since I'm replying, I would ask what others better versed than me think about a couple of things:

--Does the photo not look sloppily pasted atop a cabinet backing?

--Does the cabinet backing itself look super fresh to anyone else's eye? (This could obviously be easily forgiven, as so many of these rested in albums for over a century, barely touched.)

--It's been my observation that much more pride and care was taken in everything back then to have allowed for such a sloppy cut job on the photo. Those wavy, hand cut edges just wouldn't fly in period quality control, would they?!

I would love to see this thing examined under a VSC. I wonder if the choice of a black cabinet backing was done on purpose in an effort to help obscure anything that may be/may have originally been on the cabinet behind the photo.

Again, I loathe opining on anything unless I'm more knowledgeable in the subject matter, so please take my words as observational in nature only.

[D. Bergin]

Sounds like nit-picking probably, but if it’s not a completely modern invention, I’d lean more towards calling it an early 20th Century mounted photo, rather than a late 19th Century cabinet card.

Card guys won’t like that designation, but the photo guys won’t care much.

Haven’t seen David Rudd post here in awhile, but I’m sure he’d have an informed opinion on it.

[Schwertfeger1007]

@BillyCox-

I'd disagree with your comment about "pride and care in everything back then" as I'm a long time Old Judge collector and it's rare to find a solid cut + centered N172. Even N173's (while marketed as "premium") often times had photos sloppily affixed to the mounts.

I don't doubt that it's "real" as I'm holding it in front of me. I'm more curious as to when it was made or produced.

It was sold last year in a Hindman Auction in a lot alongside several other authenticated pieces from the 1890s so it wouldn't surprise me to learn that this was a post mortem piece (~1894) as another member suggested.

I'm def not the expert and honestly don't even know what "VSC" is but I'll happily bring it with me to Cleveland in July if someone can point me in the direction of an expert to take a close look at it.