Jun 01, 2023 - Sale 2639

Sale 2639 - Lot 39

Price Realized: $ 562
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 250 - $ 350
McKoy, Millie and Christine (1851-1912)
Signed Carte-de-Visite.

Philadelphia: Washington Lafayette Germons' Temple of Art, 914 Arch Street, circa 1865-1872.

Albumen image mounted on card with studio information printed on the verso in red, signed in pencil, showing the sisters as young teenagers, 4 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.

The McKoy sisters were conjoined twins born into slavery in Whiteville, North Carolina. They were first sold at the age of ten months, and again fourteen months later. They were exhibited for public view at state fairs from the time they were babies. After the Emancipation Proclamation, Millie and Christine were reunited with their mother, continuing to perform in sideshows and circuses through their young adulthood. They stopped performing and moved back to their family-owned farm when they were in their 30s. Their father purchased the farm and left it to his performing daughters.