'Chère petite Marthe,' 1886
Géruzet Frères, Brussels, Belgium
carte-de-visite, carbon print

An inked inscription verso in a period hand translates as 'Souvenir of our dear little Marthe, raised to our most lively affection the 23 March '86, Hector and Mathilde.'

The research of Roger Mehtab has established a fuller identification for 'Chère petite Marthe.' Born Marthe Esther Clothilde Thiry in Brussels at 17 rue des Bouchers on 2 September 1884, she was the daughter of Charles Hector Thiry and his wife Joséphine Mathilde Marie née Charles. By profession, her father was a 'droguiste,' which can be translated a number of different ways. It can mean the proprietor of a hardware store but given that Charles Hector's own birth certificate shows that his father practised veterinary medicine, in this case it probably means 'chemist' or 'pharmacist.'

Marthe died at 17 rue des Bouchers on 23 March 1886. Her death was registered the following day. According to the records, she was one year, six months and twenty-one days old. 

Her parents, Charles Hector and Mathilde, had already lost one child. A daughter named Mathilde Amélie Hélène Thiry had died on 20 January 1879 when she was seventeen days old. Another daughter, Hélène Alice Mathilde Thiry born on 8 October 1880, lived to adulthood. 

Charles Hector and Mathilde were divorced on 9 March 1894. 

Photographed by Géruzet Frères of Brussels.