Stereograph

Description

The suggestion that this image was created at Watervliet is mostly based on the shape of the finials on the chairs in which the two Sisters are seated. The two Sisters have been identified as the natural sisters Cornelia Charlotte "Ann" Neale (1856-1902) on the left and Sarah (Sadie) Neale (1849-1947) on the right. As Paterwic notes in his Historical Dictionary of the Shakers, the sister on the left is often incorrectly identified as Sister Emma J. Neale, but she never lived at Watervliet. There are at least three variants of this stereograph -- one, as in this view, with the Sister on the right with her right arm raised to her face, one with the Sister on the left with her left arm raised to her face, and one with both Sisters with their hands folded in their laps.