Name/Title
Photographs of parents of Alfred A. CohenEntry/Object ID
2018.33.1Description
Acc. No. 18.33.1 (A-B)
Subject Category: Citizens of Alameda
Date or Period: c. 1860's
Object: Photographs (framed)
Description: Two large plate photographs whose images appear to be artistically accentuated. They are surrounded by new white colored matting. They are in their original dark walnut frames that have an incised pattern of carved interlocking leaves. Also present is an interliner of gold leaves on gesso. Photograph "A" is of Andrew Asher Cohen (b. 1790, Jamaica, d. 1862 London); photograph "B" is of his spouse, Hannah Oppenheim (b. 1802 London, d. 1870 London).
Sizes (ea.): L-31 1/2 x W-28 inches.
History of Object: Formal portraits of A. Cohen and his wife Hannah Oppenheim. They were the parents of Alfred A. Cohen, who was a notable figure in Alameda's history and the founder of Alameda's first railway system (eventually merging with the Southern Pacific RR). These portraits in all likelyhood hung in the Cohen's Fernside mansion.
They were passed down to Alfred A. and Emilie's son Donald Atherton Cohen and his wife Alice Hunter. Their daughter Emilie Alice Cohen married Milton Christian, and their daughter Dorothy Dingwal Christian corrected the information given to us by her aunt (the donor).
Acquired from: Carolyn Matthias (granddaughter of A.A. Cohen)
506 McBride Dr. Lafayette, CA
Date: 07/09/18
