Nathaniel Potter Tallmadge
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mrs. Dean Acheson
Accession Number
S/NPG.70.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Nathaniel Potter Tallmadge (c. 1844) is a striking lithographic print produced by the E. B. & E. C. Lithography Company, a, Connecticut firm renowned for its, mass-produced portraits during the 0s and 1850s. This silhouette captures Nathaniel Pitcher Tallmad, a prominent New York lawyer U.S. Senator (Whig Party, 1833–1844), who later embraced spiritualism and settled in Wisconsin. Silhouettes like this were a beloved 19th-century alternative to painted portraits, offering elegant, shadow-like profiles that highlighted a subject's dignity and status. Set in a refined interior with a curtain-...