I’d suggest this girl is in the early teen years, from 11-14 years of age. Her face is still soft with the roundness of childhood, but her dress is more like one for an adult. My understanding of young women’s fashion is that while girls were always dressed or treated as small adults, when they began the transition from childhood to adulthood (a much younger age than modern girls), their clothing was more like that worn by adult women. They wore proper corsets rather than stays, the clothing was made to follow women’s fashion styles. If you have different knowledge, please share – children’s history isn’t my strong point.
The tintype has sustained a bit of damage, which a bend in the metal from top to bottom that transverses her face and while it looks like she is holding a bunch of flowers in her lap, it is in fact damage to the image and the black tin under the image is exposed. You may be relieved to learn that I am putting these tintypes into protective sleeves to keep them from becoming further damaged. I buy my supplies from gaylord.com which is a manufacturer of archival safe storage supplies.
Who Were They? 