A carte de visite studio head-and-shoulder portrait of Laura Chauvin, Los Angeles, ca. 1872
Entry/Object ID
2011.525.1.1
Description
A carte de visite studio head-and-shoulder portrait of Laura Chauvin, Valentine Wolfenstein, Los Angeles, ca. 1872. The view shows the young child wearing a white dress and drop earrings and her hair is parted down the middle. On the reverse is a pencil inscription, "Laura Cheupen [?] / & later Hutchinson." with her last name partially obliterated by erasing or smearing. She was the daughter of Augustus C. Chauvin, a Missouri-born merchant, and Elizabeth Rose (whose connections to the Griffin and Young families are reflected in 2011.524.1.1-2.) Chauvin migrated to California in the 1849 Gold Rush and lived in El Dorado County, where he married. The family came to Los Angeles about 1867 and Chauvin opened the El Dorado Store in the Lanfranco Adobe, where William H. and Elijah H. Workman had their saddlery (Chauvin and the Workmans lived within 20 miles of each other in central Missouri) and operated until 1886. Laura later married gas fixtures manufacturer William G. Hutchinson. With curvature of the mount, a small stain near her head, soiling and edge rubbing, the overall condition is good.
