Jane Emma Burns Brown and Jean Armour Burns Brown

A sepia toned monochrome photographic print on a carte de visite card of Robert Burns' granddaughter and great granddaughter taken in Guelph, Canada.   Jane Emma Burns Brown was the daughter of Robert Burns junior, the poet's eldest son and one of the few members of his family who continued to live in Dumfries. Her eldest daughter, Jean Armour Burns Brown, was said to bear an uncanny resemblance to her famous forebear.   Because of this she became something of a celebrity in her own right, touring in Scotland and North America. She was regularly invited to ceremonies and events associated with Robert Burns and occurs in many photographs from the 1890s onwards until her death in 1937.   Carte de visite cards were almost always studio portraits, they were produced to be sold or exchanged and were collected in elaborate albums, specially made for the purpose, often with window mounts to display the cards. This carte de visite card dates from the 1870s when they were at the height of their popularity. It comes from an album which belonged to Jean Armour Burns Brown herself.