Virginia Melville, from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Gypsy Queen Cigarettes 1886 - 1890

This is a photograph from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Gypsy Queen Cigarettes made by Goodwin & Company. Here, Virginia Melville wears a delicate lace head covering, a symbol laden with cultural and historical weight. The veil, a motif stretching back through centuries, has signified purity, modesty, and mystery. From ancient Roman rituals to Renaissance portraits, veils draped over women have been potent emblems, simultaneously concealing and revealing. Consider the Madonna in countless paintings, her head often veiled, representing divine grace and the sacred feminine. This symbol has a complex relationship to the psychoanalytic concepts of repression and revelation. What is hidden—the veiled truth or desire—often holds the greatest power. The veil hints at the potential for transformation, a fluid boundary between states of being. The cyclical nature of symbols means the lace returns in the modern era in forms such as this, yet its inherent capacity to evoke a spectrum of emotions, from reverence to longing, remains undiminished.