Digging through a file of (very) old family photos, I found a couple of photos like this:
The thing is about 10cm (4 inches) height, and it looks like a film glued to a fairly thick cardboard.
This is pretty ancient, from the notes by my grandma on the back it could be her own grandma (so the thing would be done around 1880).
Is this a photo (Daguerreotype, other?) or something else?
So yes, it looks like a drawing, but it could be a photo of a drawing. And this picture of her husband is definitely a photo (there is the photographer's logo and address on the back).