Need Help Dating a Photograph of Mary Jane.

[Araboy21]

The back of the photo says only "Mary Jane." The girl appears to be 5 or 6 maybe? She is wearing a velvet dress. The photograph looks more sepia than gray.
Any help narrowing down the date would be much appreciated.
My family is from western Pennsylvania and it is likely that this photo was taken there. It's possible that it was taken in Scotland or Ireland, too, but I don't think so.
Thank you!

[McGroger]

Large fake rocks was an 1880s thing; emphasising the shoulders was an 1890s thing. My guess - I stress "guess" - would be very early 1890s. Anyway, this will bring it up the board for the experts to see.
If you have the original could you post a scan of the back, including the edges (the card itself can be as important a clue as the picture).
By the way, lovely photo, Araboy.

Peter

[Araboy21]

Thank you for the response and feedback! Here are the full front and back of the photo. I don't recall what the original size of the photo and mount. I know that is often helpful to determining the date it was created. I scanned a lot of different photos and returned the originals to my father.
The ink on the back appears to be sepia though it could just be that it faded to that from black. It was clearly not a modern pen either.
I have been assuming that one of the subjects (likely the older girl) is Mary Jane but it could be the baby or, possibly, the person to whom the photo was given.
I have a Mary Jane McCleary in my tree that was born in 1863 and died at some point before 1880. It sounds like this photo might not be old enough to have been her...

[Treetotal]

Hi Araboy and welcome to RootsChat....It looks to be Edwardian to me but children are not easy to date. The baby appears to be secured to the rock and may be being held from behind by a ghost mother. It wouldn't be perched in such a precarious position without support.
Carol

[Jool]

Hi Araboy,  just a thought.. could the writing on the back be the names of both girls, Mary & Jane?

[Araboy21]

Because Mary Jane is so common, that had never occurred to me before. I'll look into it and see if that helps me at all. Thanks for the idea!

[Wiggy]

I think the 'rock' might in fact be mother disguised/ under a 'rock coloured and shaped material' and the baby is sitting on Mum's knee. I think I can see the arm and leg of the chair she is sitting on between her and the young girl!

Wiggy.

[Treetotal]

Here are some examples of photographer creating the illusion that the child is self supporting " Ghost Mothers"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2155681/Old-portraits-children-creepy-ghostmothers-background-far-mums-good-photo.html

Carol

[Wiggy]

Great examples there Carol, and I bet the OP's photo is one too!

I was basically agreeing with you in the last post!