This listing which will be improved over time lists the commonest properties to be seen in nineteenth century studio portraits.
Interior scenes - Visible
Chairs (vast variety of types - some specifically for babies and small children)
Tables
Desks
Pedestals and columns (innumerable styles, heights and widths)
Mantels and fireplaces
Posing furniture (chairs, lounges)
Day beds (a more common item in the Mediterranean and Middle East and found in photographs by the Zangaki Brothers and Pascal Sebah.)
Beds (They only appear in post-mortem, erotic or art studio photographs. Most post-mortem photographs were carried out in the home but there were cases when the body of a child or deceased loved one was taken to a studio to preserve a memory. In the cases where children are shown in bedrooms such as some of the Lewis Carroll albumen prints it is now regarded as questionable.)
Drapery (heavy fabrics, drapes, curtains, throws)
Carpets, rugs, furs and other floor coverings
Large ceramic pots and urns
Plant and fern stands, planters and artificial plants
Windows
Screens
Interior scenes - Rarely visible
Head rests and clamps
Posing rests
Curtain stands
Exterior scenes - Visible
Rustic wooden fences
Rustic gates and stiles
Porches
Bridges
Balustrades
Benches (rustic wood and stone)
Statues
Pedestals
Stone walls
Rockwork
Park gates
Artificial grass, or furs used to indicate grass
Branches, twigs, tree trunks and limbs (real or papier mache)
Rocks
Simulated snow (using furs or rock salt)
Swings
Entire rustic buildings and temples
Transportation (mockups of sledges, hot air balloons, trains, row boats and later cars and planes)
When examining a photograph it can be important to see if the items in the studio match the ethnicity of the sitter. For example if the sitter is Chinese is the style of the table and chair also in the Chinese style or European.