Family Portrait

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Family Portrait
  • (Case) A Spray of Roses
Date1855
PlaceUnited States
MediumDaguerreotype
Dimensionsimage: 3 1/2 × 4 9/16 inches (9 × 11.6 cm)
case/folded: 4 1/2 × 5 15/16 × 7/8 inches (11.5 × 15.1 × 2.3 cm)
case/open: 9 1/2 × 6 × 1/2 inches (24.2 × 15.3 × 1.3 cm)

Credit LineThe Sonia and Kaye Marvins Portrait Collection, gift of Sonia Marvins
Object number95.18
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Special Collections
Object Type
Description

In 1839 when the French government
established a lifelong pension for Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre (French,
1787-1851), the inventor presented his new photographic process free of
restrictions or fees to the world. Daguerre's manual of instruction was
translated into every major language and went through twenty-one editions in
two years. The daguerreotype received instant success, and its lustrous,
silvery tones and grainless image eclipsed all other processes in quality and
presentation, including Talbot's calotype, which had been introduced at the
same time. The daguerreotype prevailed until the introduction of the collodion
process in 1851.





Most importantly, the daguerreotype revolutionized
the concept of portraiture. While by no means inexpensive, the daguerreotype
was vastly more accessible economically to a broader public than had been the painted
portrait. A variety of sizes was available, but the most popular were the 1/4
plate and 1/6 plate because they were much cheaper and required shorter
exposures than the standard whole plate size, which measured 6 1/2 x 8 1/2
inches.





In the 1840s and
1850s a 1/6 plate daguerreotype might cost about $2.00, while a whole plate
could cost more than $30.00. For the average working person, even a 1/6 plate
daguerreotype represented a major expenditure and a luxury reserved for special
occasions. The price increased with the addition of hand-coloring, a delicate
operation for the fragile surface of a daguerreotype. A half-plate daguerreotype,
like this family portrait of a well"dressed couple and their child, would
have been quite costly and reserved for the moderately wealthy.

ProvenanceSonia Marvins, Houston; given to MFAH, 1995.
Exhibition History"Turning Light Into Silver", 19 February - 30 May 2005, Audrey Jones Beck Building, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, lower level.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
The daguerreotype is not signed or dated.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

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