[Pair of Portraits of Man and Woman (Husband and Wife?)]
1852–60
![[Pair of Portraits of Man and Woman (Husband and Wife?)] by Jeremiah Gurney](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/pair-of-portraits-of-man-and-woman-husband-and-291776.webp)
Medium
Daguerreotype with applied color
Dimensions
Image: 9 x 6.4 cm (3 9/16 x 2 1/2 in.), each Plate: 10.8 x 8.3 cm (4 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.), each Case: 1.9 x 11.9 x 9.5 cm (3/4 x 4 11/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Herbert Mitchell, 2008
Accession Number
2015.400.23
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the dawn of photography with this charming pair of daguerreotypes by Jeremiah Gurney, created between 1852 and 1860. Capturing a man and woman—possibly a husband and wife—these intimate portraits showcase the subjects in formal attire, their gazes direct and dignified. Measuring just 9 x 6.4 cm each, the images are housed in a protective case, typical of the era's precious keepsakes. Daguerreotypes, invented in 1839, were the first publicly available photographs, producing one-of-a-kind mirror-like images on silvered copper plates. Gurney, a leading New York daguerreotypist, elevate...