Snapshots of the Past

[Thomas Butler King, half-length portrait, nearly facing front] – Historic Photograph Print

[Thomas Butler King, half-length portrait, nearly facing front], [between 1844 and 1860] — historic photograph
[Thomas Butler King, half-length portrait, nearly facing front], [between 1844 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

This historic photograph of [Thomas Butler King, half-length portrait, nearly facing front] brings a moment of history to your wall. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

[Thomas Butler King, half-length portrait, nearly facing front]

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Thomas Butler King, a Georgia congressman and later a Confederate-era figure, sits in this half-length portrait turned nearly to face the camera, a pose that suits the formal conventions of the 1840s and 1850s. The record notes that the likeness was identified from a painting by Chester Harding, a leading American portraitist of the period, which makes this daguerreotype a useful point of comparison between painted and photographic likenesses. The plate was produced in the studio of Mathew Brady, whose operation did much to establish photography as a respected way to record public men. Its survival in the War College collection, transferred to the Library of Congress in 1920, is part of why it still offers a direct view of a politician of the antebellum South.

Created / published[between 1844 and 1860]
Medium1 photograph : half plate daguerreotype.
GenrePortrait photographs 1840-1860.Daguerreotypes 1840-1860.
NotesIdentification from painting by Chester Harding. Scratched on back of plate: 12. Transfer; U.S. War College; 1920. (DLC/PP-1920:46153). Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress). Produced by Mathew Brady's studio.
SubjectsKing, T. Butler (Thomas Butler),--1800-1864.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,217 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
Reference317_Thomas_Butler_King_half_1844

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