Portret van een meisje met pop 1846 - 1865

John Jabez Edwin Mayall made this portrait of a girl with a doll using photography sometime in the mid-19th century. Photography at this time was becoming a popular way to record likenesses, but it also served to reinforce social conventions. The girl in the portrait is formally posed and dressed in white, signifying innocence and purity, values highly prized in Victorian society. She holds a doll, which reflects the era's emphasis on prescribed gender roles. The doll was more than just a child's plaything, it was a tool used by adults to teach young girls how to be mothers. Consider too the institutional role of photography at this time: the very act of commissioning a portrait speaks to a certain level of affluence and status. By reading such visual and cultural cues, we can better understand the complex interplay between art, social values, and historical context. Further research might include studying Victorian-era child-rearing practices and the history of photography as a tool of social documentation.