Snapshots of the Past

Two unidentified women – Antique Photo Print

Two unidentified women, 1851 — historic photograph
Two unidentified women, 1851. Historic photograph from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection.

(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 Two unidentified women. It is part of the Snapshots of the Past archive, gathered over 25 years of research.

Order it framed and ready to hang, or unframed to match a frame you already love. Perfect for a home, office, library or classroom wall, and a gift with a story behind it. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Two unidentified women

Order a print

Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal

Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.

Sign up for our newsletter

Sent securely. No purchase needed. Unsubscribe anytime.

Ask about licensing or this print

Two women sit close together in this daguerreotype from 1851, and because neither has been identified, the picture rests entirely on what the image itself shows: posture, dress and the mirror-like silver surface that gives daguerreotypes their soft, glowing tonality. Portraits of this kind were made in large numbers during the early 1850s, when the process had become a fashionable and relatively affordable way for ordinary families to record themselves. Each plate was a single unique image, usually sealed under glass in a small case, so the sitters held onto it as a personal keepsake. Its anonymity is part of its interest, since it stands for the many unnamed people who sat for portraits in this period.

Created / published1851
Original scan3,293 × 4,096 px · prints to 11 × 14 in at 300 dpi
Reference632_Two_unidentified_women_1851

More from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.

Related pictures

Two unidentified womenTwo unidentified women[Three unidentified women, two seated, one standing, facing front][Three unidentified women, two seated, one standing, facing front][Ten unidentified young people, four men and one woman are standing, seated in front are two men and three women, all facing nearly front][Ten unidentified young people, four men and one woman are standing, seated in fTwo women seated in a daguerreotype portraitTwo women seated in a daguerreotype portrait[Unidentified group of six women and a boy and girl, three women and the boy are seated in chairs][Unidentified group of six women and a boy and girl, three women and the boy are[Two unidentified girls, about three and five years of age, the younger child seated in high chair, older one standing beside her on left, both nearly facing front][Two unidentified girls, about three and five years of age, the younger child se