[Self-Portrait with Wife and Two Daughters]
![[Self-Portrait with Wife and Two Daughters] by John Adams Whipple](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/self-portrait-with-wife-and-two-daughters-286230.webp)
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
Overall: 6 × 4 3/4 in. (15.2 × 12 cm) Image: 4 13/16 × 3 9/16 in. (12.3 × 9 cm); visible
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.858
Tags
About this artwork
This family daguerreotype by pioneering American photographer John Adams Whipple represents both technical achievement and intimate family documentation. Created in 1854, this whole-plate daguerreotype shows Whipple, his wife, and their two daughters in a carefully composed group portrait, demonstrating the photographer's mastery of his medium. Whipple was among America's most accomplished early photographers, known for his scientific and technical innovations including successful celestial phot...
Art Historical Context
In 1854, pioneering American photographer John Adams Whip captured this intimate self-portrait with his wife and two young daughters in a whole-plate daguerreotype, a feat that blended family tenderness with technical brilliance. As one of the era's most innovative photographers, Whipple was renowned advancing daguerreotype chemistry and achieving groundbreaking celestial images, like his photographs of the Moon. This6 × 4 3/4-inch plate exemplifies his mastery, showcasing the medium's hallmark mirror-like surface and exquisite detail at its peak. Creating a successful group daguerreotype was...