[Family of Seven]

This delicately hand-colored, whole-plate daguerreotype is the work of the British photographer Edward Monson, a land surveyor turned daguerreotypist. Monson’s 1853 advertisement for his services promoted two aspects of his work: first, the quality of his camera, “the largest and most perfect apparatus in use,” and second, “his success in the arrangement and taking of family groups.” Though the identity of the sitters is unknown, their close family ties are evident thanks to Monson’s careful posing, with hands and gestures linking them together.