Untitled (Portrait of a Boy and Girl)
1855
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
8 × 7 cm (3 3/16 × 2 13/16 in.); Open case: 9.3 × 16 × 1 cm (3 11/16 × 6 5/16 × 7/16 in.); Case: 9.3 × 8 × 1.4 cm (3 11/16 × 3 3/16 × 9/16 in.); Plate: 8.3 × 7 cm (3 1/4 × 2 3/4 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
250028
Art Historical Context
**Untitled (Portrait of a and Girl), 1855** This intimate daguerreotype captures a boy and girl, likely siblings, gazing solemnly at the viewer from within a protective case. Created by an unknown maker in 1855, the tiny 8 × 7 cm image exemplifies early photography's delicate beauty. Housed in a locket-like case—measuring just 9.3 × 8 × 1.4 cm when closed—it was designed for personal cherishing, much like a family heirloom. Daguerreotypes, the first practical photographic process introduced in 1839, produced one-of-a-kind positive images on silvered copper plates through a mercury vapor deve...