Artist
Dodge & Wenderoth(American, active c. 1855–1860)American, active c. 1855–1860
Artist
John Wood Dodge(American, 1807–1893)American, 1807–1893
Artist
Frederick Augustus Wenderoth(American, born Germany, 1819–1894)American, born Germany, 1819–1894
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Market Square, Nashville, Tennessee
Datec. 1856
Place depictedNashville, Tennessee, United States
MediumSalted paper print from glass negative
DimensionsImage (oval): 6 5/8 × 8 5/8 in. (16.8 × 21.9 cm)
Sheet (oval): 6 5/8 × 8 5/8 in. (16.8 × 21.9 cm)
Sheet (oval): 6 5/8 × 8 5/8 in. (16.8 × 21.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Alex Novak in honor of Anne Wilkes Tucker on the occasion of her retirement
Object number2015.217
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
In the 1850s, the vast majority of American photographs were portrait daguerreotypes. Paper photography, already widely used in Europe by mid-decade, was slow to catch on here, and portraiture remained the dominant subject. This view of Nashville—believed to be the earliest photograph of the city—is a rare depiction of urban life before the Civil War outside the long-established cities of the East Coast.
ProvenanceCol. John R. Johnston album, compiled mid-to-late 1850s; [Vintage Works, Ltd., Chalfont, Pennsylvania]; given to MFAH, 2015.
Exhibition HistoryLas Vegas Photographica Show, 1998
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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