Snapshots of the Past

[Portrait of two children] – Vintage Photo Print

[Portrait of two children], [ca. 1856] — historic photograph
[Portrait of two children], [ca. 1856]. Historic photograph from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic photograph of [Portrait of two children]. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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[Portrait of two children]

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Two children sit for this half plate daguerreotype, and the record names them as David and Charity, the children of Solomon Nunes Carvalho, the Charleston-born painter and photographer to whom the image is attributed. The case's central spiral set in a square frame is a typical mark of the cased daguerreotypes made in the 1850s, when the process was at its most popular for family portraits. Carvalho was also the photographer on John C. Frémont's 1853 expedition to the West, which makes this more personal image a useful glimpse of the domestic side of a man better known for his travels. Portraits like this one show how quickly the daguerreotype had become a household keepsake.

Created / published[ca. 1856]
Medium1 photograph : half plate daguerreotype.
GenrePortrait photographs 1850-1860.Group portraits 1850-1860.Daguerreotypes 1850-1860.
NotesImage attributed to Carvalho and believed to be two of his children, David and Charity. Case: back only, central spiral in square frame. Purchase; Mrs. Jean McNutt; 1974; (DLC/PP-1974:061). Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress).
SubjectsCarvalho, Solomon Nunes,--1815-1897--Family.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,176 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
Reference79_Portrait_of_two_childre_1856

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