[Two Seated Men with Calipers, T-Square, and Compass]
1870s–80s
![[Two Seated Men with Calipers, T-Square, and Compass] by Unknown](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/two-seated-men-with-calipers-t-square-and-compass-291908.webp)
Medium
Tintype with applied color
Dimensions
Image: 6.5 x 5.4 cm (2 9/16 x 2 1/8 in.) Mat: 8.3 x 7 cm (3 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.) Case: 1.1 x 9.3 x 7.9 cm (7/16 x 3 11/16 x 3 1/8 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Herbert Mitchell, 2008
Accession Number
2015.400.174
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate tintype portrait, in the 1870s or 1880s, features two seated men proudly displaying their tools of the trade:ipers, a T-square, and a compass. Likely drafts, architects, or engineers they embody the era's growing emphasis on technical precision industrial progress. The unknown artist a tintype process—a direct-positive image on a thin iron sheet—enhanced with color, adding a touch of vibrancy to their attire and faces that elevates this modest snapshot into a colorful artifact. ypes, popular from the 1850s through the early 190s, were affordable and, making photography accessibl...
About the Artist
Unknown
The artist designated as "Unknown" in our virtual museum's collection exemplifies a poignant chapter in art history: creators whose identities have faded into obscurity despite the enduring power of their work. With only one known artwork attributed to them in our holdings, this figure represents countless anonymous hands that shaped visual culture across centuries. Museums worldwide, including th...