Browse Items (10 total)

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  Hey Micky, 1938

  Silver gelatin print of Mona Williams posing with her dog Micky by British society photographer Cecil Beaton. A society column in the Daily News in February 1938 claims: “Mona (Mrs. Harrison) Williams intends to perpetuate the breed of Micky, the pooch she brought back from her last visit to Capri. It takes only one short glance at Micky to appreciate that he is a classic example of a genuine mutt. Mona picked up the small, beige mishap from a peasant in the public square on the Isle of Capri. The peasant wouldn’t sell the loveable mongrel but was willing to trade with Mrs. Williams for a thoroughbred Pekinese. This Winter, Mona heard that Micky’s mother had been found, and she sent for her to start breeding a race of ‘Tiberian Terriers’.” Countess Mona von Bismarck, one of the leading lights of international café society, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1897 and raised in Lexington. She married five times throughout her life and each marriage propelled her upwards in society. Her status reached its pinnacle with her third marriage to Harrison Williams, who was known as the richest man in America.
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  Women with dog, circa 1930

  Real photograph postcard of two women posed on a chair by photographer John Pichler (1877-1961). The woman on the left, Fronie Juanita Shawler, is holding her dog. Shawler was born in 1914 in Cloverport, Breckinridge County, Kentucky, and eventually moved to Louisville. She joined the Stoner Memorial Church, where she was a member for 83 years and served as the first female trustee. Juanita worked as a healthcare provider at the Baxter Community Center Clinic in Beecher Terrace and retired as a nurse assistant for the Louisville-Jefferson County Health Department. She was married to her husband Clark for 56 years and the couple had no children. In addition to being active in church, Juanita was an avid bowler in a church league and the Senior Citizens Bowling League. She continued bowling—and driving her car—until she was 103 years old. Juanita died in May 2022 at the age of 108.
  
  John Pichler was an Austrian immigrant who came to America in 1898. He took this photograph from his home studio in the rear of 1753 St. Louis Avenue in the Park Hill Neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. His son John O. Pichler learned from his father and was an engraver for The Louisville-Courier Journal and Standard Gravure for over 50 years.
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  Studio portrait with a cat, circa 1960

  Portrait of Elen (Fran) Levey posing with her Siamese cat for the Jewish Community of Louisville.
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  Mary Ann Sherley Herr (1813-1884)

  Wearing what appears to be a mourning brooch similar in style to 1962.3.1 and 1962.3.4.
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  Hannah Grushon Deweese (1818-1884)

  Hannah Deweese was married to Cornelius DeWeese and lived on a 900 acre farm, Hunter’s Bottom, in Carol County, Kentucky. She was in her 30s when this portrait was painted of her, with what appears to be hair and/or mourning jewelry, including a brooch similar in style to pieces in the Filson's collection (see 1962.3.1 & 1962.3.3), a bracelet, and a ring. When Hannah died in 1884, eight of her thirteen children preceded her in death.
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  Hattie Leona Main (1873-1876)

  Hattie Leona Palmer, who was just 3 years old when she passed in 1876 was memorialized in a large portrait. Hattie or “Little Leona” was the daughter of Reuben Palmer (1824-1909) and Hattie J. Knepfly Main (1849-1911). A framed hand inscribed death announcement immortalizes Leona as a “bright little cherub, not only the pet of the household, but the favorite of the neighborhood. Well may it be said that ‘Death loves a shining mark,’ and his icy grasp heeds not age or condition. “Little Leona” the fairest flower, has been plucked from the bosom of living friends to be transplanted above and bloom in eternal spring.” See also the dress she wore in the painting (2011.23.2).
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  Fanny Henning (c. 1847-1866)

  Fanny was the daughter of James W. Henning (brother of Fanny Henning Speed) and Mildred E. Maupin (b. 1821), who died in 1850 of accidental poisoning, along with an infant she was nursing. Fanny died in October, 1866 around the age of 18 or 19 from Phthisis, also known as tuberculosis. A year after Fannie’s death, her father commissioned artist G.P.A Healy to paint several family portraits. Fanny’s portrait shows her as a child rather than a teenager. It is believed that the only known image of her was a daguerreotype taken when she was a child. The photograph only depicted her from the bust up. Her half-sister Lulie, born in 1860 to J.W Henning and his second wife Sarah Katherine Cowan Buck (1827-1919) wore Fanny’s dress and modeled for the artist.
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  Joshua Fry Speed (1814-1882) and Fanny Henning Speed (1820-1902).

  Joshua Fry Speed (1814-1882) and Fanny Henning Speed (1820-1902) . Oil on canvas 45.5 x 55.5 inches. Fanny Speed is wearing what appears to be a mourning brooch, similar to brooches in the Filson's collection (see 1982.13.10 and 1990.5.2). See also 1981.8.20.
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  Hobbs and Henning Family Miniatures

  Henning and Hobb family miniature portraits, including mourning portrait of Susan Henning Hobbs (1816-1835) (top), first wife of Edward Dorsey Hobbs. Painted in grisaille manner to indicate her death around the age 19. The family miniatures were later framed together. Other miniatures include: Edward Dorsey Hobbs (left-center) (son of Mary Ann Hobbs), Mary Ann Dorsey Hobbs (center), Susan Hobbs Luckett (right-center)(daughter of Marry Ann Hobbs), and Fanny Henning Speed (bottom) (see also 1935.14).
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  Caleb Bates and granddaughter Florence Montgomery Durrett (1863-1869)

  Miniature portrait of Caleb Bates. On the reverse is a photograph of his granddaughter, Florence Montgomery Durrett (1863-1869), who died at the age of 6.