Child's pillow, with pink velvet and cyanotype photographs on cotton. American. Circa 1895
This small pillow features four blue-toned or cyanotype photographs, which were hand-sewn onto the pink velvet material. Cyanotypes were a popular technique among amateur photographers from the 1890s-1910s and were printed onto different textile supports or paper stocks. The pictures represent an everyday family narrative, which is personal, comfortable and familiar.