[Seated Middle-aged Man in Bow Tie and Jacket]
1850s
![[Seated Middle-aged Man in Bow Tie and Jacket] by John Watkins](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/seated-middle-aged-man-in-bow-tie-and-jacket-291818.webp)
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
Image: 14 x 10 cm (5 1/2 x 3 15/16 in.) Plate: 19.1 x 15.2 cm (7 1/2 x 6 in.) Case: 1.9 x 20.2 x 16.5 cm (3/4 x 7 15/16 x 6 1/2 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Herbert Mitchell, 2008
Accession Number
2015.400.65
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the 1850s, as photography burst onto the scene, John Watkins captured this striking *Seated Middle-aged Man in Bow Tie and Jacket* using the daguerreotype process—a pioneering technique that produced exquisitely detailed, one-of-a-kind images on silvered copper. Developed by Louis Daguerre in 9, daguerreotypes were the height of innovation, offering unprecedented realism that rivaled painted portraits. Watkins, a prominent London photographer known for his formal studio portraits of the era's elite, here presents a dignified middle-aged gentleman seated in a bow tie and jacket, exuding quie...