OK, so which one is the doll, and which one is a doll? Such a sweet portrait! A well dressed little girl, wearing a fur-fringed coat and fur bonnet that doesn’t hide her golden curls, clutches a porcelain headed doll with hair askew and stares straight into the camera as if to say: “This is my dolly and you can’t have it!”. The expensive coat and porcelain doll suggest this is a little rich girl, and both the girl’s coat and the doll’s dress have sleeve puffs indicative of an 1890s date.

The Library of Congress identifying information states that this image was copyrighted in 1898 by M. B. Parkinson of N.Y. I think the image is a bit earlier, perhaps he waited a few years before submitting it to the copyright office. The photographer was Morris Burke Parkinson, who spent the early part of his photographic career in New York city, before moving to Boston. But in 1880 he was in Oshkosh Wisconsin, and his occupation was ‘Music Teacher’. By 1890 he is listed in the New York City Directory under ‘photographs’ at 29 W 26th Street, partnered with Oscar F Smith. He remained in New York until right around 1900, then moved to Boston where he had a studio for at least ten more years.