Snapshots of the Past

[Emlen Cresson, three-quarters length portrait, facing front, with arm resting on table with tablecloth] – Historic Photograph Print

[Emlen Cresson, three-quarters length portrait, facing front, with arm resting on table with tablecloth], 1858 March 12. — historic photograph
[Emlen Cresson, three-quarters length portrait, facing front, with arm resting on table with tablecloth], 1858 March 12.. 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 [Emlen Cresson, three-quarters length portrait, facing front, with arm resting on table with tablecloth]. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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[Emlen Cresson, three-quarters length portrait, facing front, with arm resting on table with tablecloth]

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Few portraits on this board carry as much dating evidence as this one, since a paper label on the plate reads "Mar. 12th 1858." The sitter, Emlen Cresson (1811-1889), leans an arm on a draped table before a painted backdrop, a setting that may be the work of Samuel Broadbent, a Philadelphia daguerreotypist. It is a quarter-size stereoscopic daguerreotype made with Mascher's improved stereoscope, a device patented in Philadelphia in 1853, and its hand coloring was added by hand after exposure. The case, with lilies on the front and a geometric design on the back, shows how these small portraits were presented as keepsakes.

Created / published1858 March 12.
Medium1 photograph : quarter size Mascher stereoscopic daguerreotype, hand colored.
GenreDaguerreotypes 1850-1860.Stereographs 1850-1860.Portrait photographs 1850-1860.
NotesPossibly by Samuel Broadbent based on painted backdrop. Case: lilies on front and geometric design on back. Inscribed on case: Mascher's Improved Stereoscope, Philada., Patent March 8, 1853. Paper label adhered to cover glass: Emlen Cresson." Paper label adhered to back of plate: "Mar. 12th 1858." Label on case: "54." Purchase; Marian S. Carson; 1998; (DLC/PP-1998:151.5). Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress). Forms part of: Marian S. Carson collection (Library of Congress)"
SubjectsCresson, Emlen,--1811-1889.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,569 × 3,624 px · prints to 15 × 12 in at 300 dpi
Reference130_Emlen_Cresson_threequar_1858

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