Empreintes Digitales
Artist
Unknown French
CultureFrench
Titles
- Empreintes Digitales
- Fingerprints
Datec. 1900
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 4 13/16 × 6 3/4 in. (12.2 × 17.2 cm)
Sheet: 5 1/16 × 6 15/16 in. (12.8 × 17.7 cm)
Sheet: 5 1/16 × 6 15/16 in. (12.8 × 17.7 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number2016.348
Non exposé
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
Fingerprints, unique to every individual, have a long history in both art and crime. In ancient Babylonia and China, thumbprints and fingerprints were used on clay tablets and seals as signatures. It was not until the 19th century, however, that a system of fingerprint classification for law enforcement was established.
Provenance[Ader Nordmann, Paris, Photographies & Livres de Photographies, November 12, 2016, 52 (illus.), lot 81]; purchased by MFAH, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
Alphonse Bertillon
c. 1900
Book of gelatin silver prints
2016.341
Unknown French
1853
Developed-out salted paper print from paper negative
99.487
Unknown
c. late 18th - early 19th century
Leather, porcupine quills, glass beads, silk, and sinew
2025.767.A,.B
