Untitled (Stone Sisters, Lincoln, MA)
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
10.7 × 14 cm (4 1/4 × 5 9/16 in.); Open case: 15.2 × 24.2 × 1.2 cm (6 × 9 9/16 × 1/2 in.); Case: 15.2 × 12.1 × 2 cm (6 × 4 13/16 × 13/16 in.); Plate: 10.8 × 14 cm (4 1/4 × 5 1/2 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
249865
Art Historical Context
John Adams Whipple’s 1850 daguerreotype captures the Stone Sisters of Lincoln, Massachusetts, in a striking early example of American portrait photography. Created just over a decade after the daguerreotype process was introduced to the public, this work reflects the medium’s rapid adoption in the United States for preserving likenesses of ordinary families. The image, housed in its original protective case, measures roughly 10.7 by 14 centimeters and exemplifies the intimate scale typical of mid-nineteenth-century photographs meant for personal viewing. As one of the first practical photogra...