"As a child, I would see the old folks pose that way. I think it was to show he was a landowner and gentleman. The wife's pose is to show that she is the mistress of the estate, a woman of status. These are my gr grandparents. They owned a substantial amount of land and grew flue tobacco in Virginia (USA). They are a mix of early Scots and English colonists that had been in North America for hundreds of years. Not sure about the photographer. He could have easily been from Europe."

"The man sitting, The woman standing. She in black, the position of right hand.... I have seen a lot of similitudes. http://picasaweb.google.com/fegovi/FotosAntiguasOldPhotos/photo#5108889505877865218"