Snapshots of the Past

[G.W. Armstead, head-and shoulders portrait, facing front] – Historic Photo Reproduction

[G.W. Armstead, head-and shoulders portrait, facing front], [between 1850 and 1860] — historic photograph
[G.W. Armstead, head-and shoulders portrait, facing front], [between 1850 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

Few images capture their era like this historic photograph of [G.W. Armstead, head-and shoulders portrait, facing front]. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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[G.W. Armstead, head-and shoulders portrait, facing front]

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A sixth-plate daguerreotype preserves the likeness of G.W. Armstead, shown from the head and shoulders and facing the camera. The photographer is unidentified, but the plate dates from sometime between 1850 and 1860, when small portraits like this were among the most common uses of the process. Daguerreotypes are made on silver-coated copper and are mirror-like, so the image appears most clearly when viewed at an angle in good light. The plate came to the Library of Congress as a 1953 gift from W.C. Armstead, which keeps the sitter's name attached to the object.

Created / published[between 1850 and 1860]
Medium1 photograph : sixth plate daguerreotype.
GenrePortrait photographs 1850-1860.Daguerreotypes 1850-1860.
NotesPhotographer unidentified. Accompanying note: G. W. Armstead. Gift; W.C. Armstead; 1953. Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress).
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,194 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
Reference14_GW_Armstead_headand_sho_1850

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