Image

American

Untitled, 1800s

Description

Maker

Culture

American

Title

Untitled

Year

1800s

Medium

daguerreotype

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 8.3 x 7 cm (3 1/4 x 2 3/4 inches)

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Truman B. Pierce

Object Number

17.121

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Image and Enterprise

February 4 - April 22, 2000

Invented by Frenchman Louis Daguerre in 1837, daguerreotype was the first photographic process. Within a camera, a chemically treated copper plate with a silver coating was exposed to light. When developed, a positive image was created on the copper plate itself. There was no negative; only the single representation on the plate. This was the limitation of the process. There was no easy way to reproduce the image. This daguerreotype is typical of the form's usual purpose, subject, and style: to capture a posed portrait.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Untitled with the accession number of 17.121. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.