A Baby
ca. 1860
Medium
Photography-Photoprint
Classification
Photography-Photoprint
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Accession Number
1994.91.96
Tags
Art Historical Context
**A Baby** (ca. 1860) captures a tender moment in early photography, created by the Philadelphia studio Jones and Brother, active during the 1860s. This photoprint, a full-length portrait of an infant, exemplifies the burgeoning art of studio photography in mid-19th-century America. Produced using the wet-collodion process—then the gold standard for sharp, detailed prints—the image reflects the technical precision and accessibility that made photography a popular medium for family documentation. In the Victorian era, photographing babies was a cherished practice, often commissioned by middle-...