This large cabinet print was in as poor condition as any I have ever had, not exposed properly to begin with, extremely brittle, faded, dirty, torn, altogether badly treated by time. I was the only one intrigued enough, or fool enough, to take it on it seems.
Without evidence to persuade me to the contrary, I am inclined to believe this may be Irish (or English) rather than American for several reasons. The group of older girls to the right are all dressed identically, wearing aprons and caps, holding brooms with bows on them; they hold the broom in the right hand with the left crossed onto the right shoulder – it is as if they have completed training intended for employment as household servants. The boys on the far left are outfitted in an odd assortment of martial costumes with tall pointed hats decorated in different manners, some have drums and others hold mock muskets or other objects I do not recognize. All of the children are dressed simply but without any being either better dressed or more poorly dressed than others, something I have not seen in photos of American school groups from the period.
I am inclined to date this to the mid-1880s because of the men's bowlers and homburgs with curled brims and cut-away jackets with abbreviated lapels; the women's short jackets and narrow sleeves (the single feature I find puzzling is the shallow lampshade hats worn by some of the women – usually associated only with the first five years of the 20th century, but much simpler, lacking the mounds of flowers and feathers of that period – yet nothing reliably places this later than 1890).
The man in the center with the cane may be the headmaster; the woman in the right foreground may be the head teacher; there are five other women who also do not wear hats and may also be teachers. There are no flags or other obvious cultural markers.
If this is an American image, it breaks the mold completely and I would like to know what sort of school it could be.
