Untitled (Portrait of a Carpenter)
1850
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
8.2 × 6.9 cm (3 1/4 × 2 3/4 in.); Open case: 9.3 × 16.2 × 1.2 cm (3 11/16 × 6 7/16 × 1/2 in.); Case: 9.3 × 8.1 × 1.5 cm (3 11/16 × 3 1/4 × 5/8 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
250166
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of mid-19th-century photography *Untitled (Portrait of a)*, a daguerreotype created around 1850 by an maker. This tiny portrait, measuring just 8.2 × 6.9 cm, captures working-class man—likely a skilled artisan—in sharp, mirror-like detail. Housed in a protective case typical of the era, it exemplifies how early photographs were cherished as personal treasures, often worn or displayed like jewelry. The daguerreotype process, invented by Louis Daguerre in 1839 and popularized in the 1840s and 1850s, marked photography's revolutionary debut. Unlike later prints, each...