Mystery Lady needs a date please

[IJDisney]

Hello All. I found this photo in behind a framed photo of my Dad as a child. It looked like it was the original photo in a reused frame, and was hidden away for at least 70 years (my Dad remembers the photo of himself always being in that frame).

I might never know who she was, or what significance she had to my grandmother, but I would love to know a rough date for the photo, and if anyone would like to hazard how old she is. The original is quite fragile and is on thin paper (not card) and has no markings/logos/anything at all on the back.

Thanks in advance.

[Treetotal]

This is most likely to be a stock photo that came with the frame when it was bought:

https://www.shutterstock.com/support/article/What-are-stock-photos

Carol

[jim1]

My thought too Carol.

[IJDisney]

Thank you. That would explain why it was on thin paper.

But I would still like to know the possible date/age, please.

If it is a stock photo used to sell the frame, how common was this in the UK in the early 20th Century, and are there any other examples? What clue is there to identify it as such, except for the lack of backing? And I guess this means there might be some record as to who the model is?

[jim1]

Stock photos covered a wide range of subjects from Royalty & the aristocracy to the clergy, politicians, actors & other performers, many of which are totally unknown today.
What you see is a typical pose of a performer of some kind.
Performers didn't conform to the dress styles of the day so it's difficult to give an accurate date. However
I think the start point would be Edwardian, thru' the war years & into the 20's.
Personally I would favour WW1 onwards.

[Treetotal]

I would agree with Jim on the era it was taken. I tried a google image match without success so probably not anyone famous. I did read somewhere that aspiring models would sit for photographers for a small fee.
Carol

[Gadget]

I did read somewhere that aspiring models would sit for photographers for a small fee.
Carol

I was given a bag full of such photos by a friend. Some even included colouring and vital statistics on the reverse 

[IJDisney]

Stock photos covered a wide range of subjects from Royalty & the aristocracy to the clergy, politicians, actors & other performers, many of which are totally unknown today.
What you see is a typical pose of a performer of some kind.
Performers didn't conform to the dress styles of the day so it's difficult to give an accurate date. However
I think the start point would be Edwardian, thru' the war years & into the 20's.
Personally I would favour WW1 onwards.

Thank you. The photo frame has a silver hallmark which dates it to 1921. The photo of my Dad that was laid on top of the concealed photo was taken 9th Aug 1934, (with a postal stamp of 5 Sep 1934). So if this really is a stock photo used to sell the frame, then it probably dates from the 1920s.

My grandmother did not have much money at the time, and was a single mother who had been disowned by her family and was living with a poor couple in urban Exeter. I had always assumed she had reused a photo frame from them, and had covered the existing photo up (the couple she lived with used to be in service to a 'big house' and had a few silver items given to them as wedding presents). But if this is a stock photo used to sell the frame, then the frame must have been bought from a shop as 'new' and had a corresponding price to match.

[IJDisney]

I did read somewhere that aspiring models would sit for photographers for a small fee.
Carol

I was given a bag full of such photos by a friend. Some even included colouring and vital statistics on the reverse 

Were they dated?