Abstract: |
The 1883 Vanderbilt Fancy Dress Ball Album Collection is comprised of portrait photographs taken by Jose Maria Mora of attendees to the fancy dress ball hosted by Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt (nee Alva Erskine Smith) on the night of March 26, 1883 at the Vanderbilts' newly completed residence at 660 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The subjects of the photographs are all dressed in the costumes they wore to the event, and appear in staged poses in front of backgrounds provided by Mora's studio. |