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Crystal Palace, Hyde Park thumbnail 2
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Crystal Palace, Hyde Park

Daguerreotype
1851 (made)
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.

This daguerreotype shows the Great Exhibition (also known as Crystal Palace), an international exhibition held in Hyde Park, London in 1851.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCrystal Palace, Hyde Park (generic title)
Materials and techniques
daguerreotype, wooden frame
Brief description
Daguerreotype of Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, during the Great Exhibition, 1851
Physical description
Daguerreotype of the Great Exhibition Building, Western or British Nave, Hyde Park, in wooden frame. perhaps half of stereoscopic pair.
Dimensions
  • Frame height: 100mm
  • Frame width: 90mm
  • Print height: 72mm
  • Print width: 62mm
Subject depicted
Place depicted
Association
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.

This daguerreotype shows the Great Exhibition (also known as Crystal Palace), an international exhibition held in Hyde Park, London in 1851.
Associated object
Bibliographic reference
p. 136 The Origin of Photography: Great Britain. Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, 2019.
Collection
Accession number
1684-1939

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Record createdJune 4, 2008
Record URL
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