Unusual (and Very Painterly) Hybrid: 19th Century Albumen Cabinet Card Photo of Dog with Painted Backdrop color mixing tool with no hole in it

with no hole in it to attach like a finial

6 7/8" l x 2 3/16" t

this copy very much worn and with a cracked spine

a bit of searching led me  B

Unusual (and Very Painterly) Hybrid: 19th Century Albumen Cabinet Card Photo of Dog with Painted Backdrop color mixing tool with no hole in itAt first I took this for a photograph of a painting of a dog, but I believe in fact the portrait of the dog, and the carpet it lies on, is photographic; it is just the background that was painted. And with some blurring of the lines along the back of the dog where photo and illusion meet, yielding a very atmospheric and painterly portrait of a clearly much beloved pet. With Howard & Co.'s Plattsburgh, NY printed on the back of the cabinet card all of