Snapshots of the Past

[Occupational portrait of a tinworker (?), half-length, left profile, seated at table with tablecloth, working with a mallet, snips, compass, and metal cylinder] – Antique Photo Print

[Occupational portrait of a tinworker (?), half-length, left profile, seated at table with tablecloth, working with a mallet, snips, compass, and metal cylinder], [between 1851 and 1860] — historic photograph
[Occupational portrait of a tinworker (?), half-length, left profile, seated at table with tablecloth, working with a mallet, snips, compass, and metal cylinder], [between 1851 and 1860]. 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

Step back in time with [Occupational portrait of a tinworker (?), half-length, left profile, seated at table with tablecloth, working with a mallet, snips, compass, and metal cylinder], a historic photograph rich in period detail. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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[Occupational portrait of a tinworker (?), half-length, left profile, seated at table with tablecloth, working with a mallet, snips, compass, and metal cylinder]

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Seated at a draped table, this sitter holds a mallet, a pair of snips, a compass, and a metal cylinder, objects that suggest a tinworker's trade, though the identification is uncertain. Such tools placed in the frame let the portrait announce its sitter's work as clearly as a name would. The image is a sixth-plate daguerreotype, a small silvered copper plate that gives a mirror-like surface, made in the 1850s when the process was at its most popular for everyday sitters. The hallmark names A. B. Mortley of Utica, New York, and the case bears the name Bogardus of Greenwich Street in New York City, linking the piece to the commercial photography trade of the period.

Created / published[between 1851 and 1860]
Medium1 photograph : sixth plate daguerreotype.
GenrePortrait photographs 1850-1860.Daguerreotypes 1850-1860.
NotesHallmark: AB MORTLEY, UTICA, N.Y. Case: scroll design. Embossed on cushion of case: Bogardus, 229 Greenwich, N.Y. Purchase/exchange; Dr. Gary Vroegindewey; 1981; (DLC/PP-1981:R380.10). Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress). Exhibited: American Treasures of the Library of Congress. Exhibited: American Treasures of the Library of Congress. 2004-2005.
SubjectsMetalworking--1850-1860.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan3,264 × 4,096 px · prints to 11 × 14 in at 300 dpi
Reference616_Occupational_portrait_o_1851

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