May Koons
Recently, a late 19th century cabinet card made its way into the collection. It features a young woman dressed in an elegant gown. But it was the reverse side of the card that truly brought her world to life. Turn the card over, and there's a cursive script and a green studio backstamp. The handwritten inscription reads: "Will El accept kindness of his old friend. May Koons." Below her signature is the mark of her hometown artist: Bumgardner, Photographer. New Lexington, Ohio. In the Victorian era, gifting a portrait was a deeply personal gesture. The phrase "accept kindness" was a common societal convention of the 1880s, a polite, warm way of asking a close friend to accept a token of remembrance. The recipient, affectionately nicknamed "El," was likely an "old friend" from her childhood neighborhood or school days. Someone who occupied a special place in her social circle. Thanks to that photographer's stamp a...