The Music Teacher's Wife
Unknown Artist
c. 1850s
Medium
daguerreotype, applied color, quarter-plate
Dimensions
image: 10.8 × 8.3 cm · matted: 50.8 × 61 cm
Classification
Photograph
Department
Photography
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
2002.37.b
About this artwork
Although portrait sittings were directed by the photographer, sitters had some input in shaping their identities by choosing their pose, clothing, possessions, and sometimes backdrop. People came to the studio dressed in their finest outfits, and they often brought objects to represent their interests or occupation, such as the tuning fork held by the music teacher. Hand painting could draw attention to luxury items, as in Young Woman with Pantalettes, where her jewelry is dabbed with gold paint...