Cabinet card of Mary Jane Hale Welles in a funeral dress by Elizabeth Keckly

Creator Name

Henry Ulke, German American, 1821 - 1910;
Mary Jane Hale Welles, American, 1817 - 1886;
Elizabeth Keckly, American, 1818 - 1907

Cultural Context

African Americans

Date

1860s

Source

National Museum of African American History and Culture;

Smithsonian Institution

About the Work

National Museum of African American History and Culture Object Description

This portrait depicts Mary Jane Hale Welles, wife of Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, in a funeral dress. The dress is said to have been sewn and designed by Elizabeth Keckley for the funeral of her son Hubert Gideon Welles in 1862, and again worn by Welles at the funeral of President Lincoln in 1865.

A cabinet card portrait of Mary Jane Hale Welles wearing a funeral dress designed by Elizabeth Keckly (sometimes spelled Keckley). The albumen print is on a Henry Ulke card mount with a narrow black border. This full length portrait shows Mary Jane Hale Welles standing in a three quarters turn away from the camera. Wearing a dark colored full-length dress with a train and a ...

Work details

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Title

Cabinet card of Mary Jane Hale Welles in a funeral dress by Elizabeth Keckly

Creator

Henry Ulke, German American, 1821 - 1910, Photograph by;
Mary Jane Hale Welles, American, 1817 - 1886, Subject of;
Elizabeth Keckly, American, 1818 - 1907, Subject of

Worktype

cabinet photographs; albumen prints; portraits; Portraits; Photographs

Cultural Context

African Americans

Material

albumen and silver on photographic paper on cardboard

Dimensions

H x W (Image): 5 1/2 × 3 7/8 in. (14 × 9.9 cm);
H x W (Sheet): 6 7/16 × 4 3/16 in. (16.4 × 10.6 cm)

Technique

Language

Date

1860s;
Date: 1866

Provenance

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Style Period

Rights

CC0

Inscription

Location

Washington; District of Columbia; United States; North and Central America

Source

National Museum of African American History and Culture;

Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Subjects

African American; Clothing and dress; Craftsmanship; Free communities of color; Funeral customs and rites; Motherhood; Photography; Funeral rites and ceremonies

Topic

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