Gift of the Rosalie Thorne McKenna Foundation, 2011.344.163 © 2012 The Connecticut Historical ...

Turkish Room at "Schoonhoven"

PhotographerPhotographed by Harriet V. S. Thorne (American, 1843 - 1926)

Dateabout 1894

MediumPhotography; gelatin emulsion on film

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 6 3/4 x 4 11/16in. (17.1 x 11.9cm) Sheet (height x width): 7 x 5in. (17.8 x 12.7cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineGift of the Rosalie Thorne McKenna Foundation

Object number2011.344.163

DescriptionA seated area in the corner of a room, decorated with Oriental rugs, pillows and fabrics. There are three crossed swords on the wall.

Collections

Women Photographers

NotesDate note: While the date provided by Rollie McKenna for a similar image is circa 1894, it may be closer to 1912 if the film is cellulose nitrate (which it probably is). According to the Image Permanence Institute, Kodak did not start manufacturing 5x7"nitrate sheet film until 1912.

From "Photographic Negatives: Nature and Evolution of Processes"

Subject Note: "Schoonhoven" was the Thornes' name for their summer home on Black Rock Point in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was designed in 1881 either by Stanford White or Bruce Price and was completed in the summer of 1882. It was the largest individually-owned property on the point, and featured a nine-hole golf course, a bowling alley, a wharf, vegetable and flower gardens and St. Mary's by-the-Sea chapel. Schoonhoven was home to Harriet's photography studio, packed with props, costumes, backdrops and furniture. A fire gutted the top story in 1903 and after Jonathan's death in 1920, Harriet closed the studio, asked her sons to dispose of its contents. She moved to Bridgehampton, New York, for the summer months. The estate changed hands at least twice after 1920 before being razed sometime in the twentieth century.

From "Black Rock: A Bicentennial Picture Book" (Dick Jones, Charles W. Brilvitch), articles in the Bridgeport Standard (January 5, 1881, May 16, 1882) and the Bridgeport Post (September 9, 1903), and Rollie Thorne McKenna's essay for the 1979 Yale exhibition.

Status

Not on view