Madarin Wife
1861–1863
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 11 1/8 × 8 3/4 in. (28.3 × 22.2 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Robert Rosenkranz Gift, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.494.55
Tags
Art Historical Context
### Madarin Wife Captured between 1861 and 1863, *Madarin Wife* is an albumen silver print from a glass negative by American photographer Milton M. Miller measuring 11 1/8 × 8 3/4 inches. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, this poignant portrait exemplifies early photographic portraiture of Chinese subjects during a transformative era. Miller, active in China during the mid-19th century, documented the lives of local elites amid the Qing dynasty's waning years and growing Western influence. The title refers to the wife of a mandarin—a high-ranking imperial official—...