Portrait of Egerton Cleeve
Daguerreotype
1845-1850 (made)
1845-1850 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The daguerreotype process was introduced to the public in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, and was hugely popular as a medium for portraiture until the middle of the 1850s. To create a daguerreotype, a silver plated sheet was given a light sensitive surface coating of iodine vapour. After a long exposure in the camera, the image was developed over heated mercury and fixed in a common salt solution. The image lies on a mirror-like surface and is best seen from an angle to minimise reflections. The surface of daguerreotypes is delicate and easily damaged, so professionally finished images were presented in a protective case or frame.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Portrait of Egerton Cleeve (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Daguerreotype |
| Brief description | Portrait of Egerton Cleeve (1827-1850), oval, 3/4 length. Anonymous hand-tinted dageurreotype, in a lined case, with a note in the portrait records about the subject's death. Late 1840s. |
| Physical description | Hand-tinted daguerreotype in plush-lined, papier-maché case with green lining. Portrait of Egerton Cleeve (1827-1850), oval, 3/4 length, late 1840s. Accompanied by a note in the portrait records stating that the subject died young in Montevideo of yellow fever. |
| Dimensions |
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| Summary | The daguerreotype process was introduced to the public in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, and was hugely popular as a medium for portraiture until the middle of the 1850s. To create a daguerreotype, a silver plated sheet was given a light sensitive surface coating of iodine vapour. After a long exposure in the camera, the image was developed over heated mercury and fixed in a common salt solution. The image lies on a mirror-like surface and is best seen from an angle to minimise reflections. The surface of daguerreotypes is delicate and easily damaged, so professionally finished images were presented in a protective case or frame. |
| Bibliographic reference | Coe, Brian & Haworth-Booth, Mark. A Guide to Early Photographic Printing Processes. London: The Victoria and Albert Museum in association with Hurtwood Press, 1983. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 7-1973 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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