Untitled (Portrait of a Woman and a Child)
1850s
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
8.1 × 7 cm (3 1/4 × 2 13/16 in.); Open case: 9.2 × 16 × 1 cm (3 5/8 × 6 5/16 × 7/16 in.); Case: 9.2 × 8 × 1.6 cm (3 5/8 × 3 3/16 × 11/16 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
250008
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of early photography with *Untitled (Portrait of a and a Child)*, poignant daguerreotype from the 1850s now housed in the Art Institute Chicago's Photography and Media Department. This tiny portrait, measuring just 8.1 × 7 cm on its silvered copper plate, captures a tender moment between a woman and child, framed within a protective case that opens like a locket—ideal for personal keepsakes carried close to the heart. Daguerreotypes, introduced in 1839, marked photography's public debut, producing one-of-a-kind, mirror-sharp images through a mercury vapor developm...