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A memento mori portrait of an infant lying on a white cushion decorated with hand-colored garden flowers.

The horizontal daguerreotype depicts an infant from the waist up, wearing a white dress and holding a small bouquet of flowers, hand-colored in red, light blue, and yellow. The infant’s cheek is delicately hand-colored with a blush of pink. There’s a peaceful look on the child’s face with closed eyes and mouth. The daguerreotype sits in an oval ornately stamped metal frame inside a red velvet daguerreotype hinged case.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
P2005.12
People
J.H. Whitehurst Galleries, American (active 1850s-1860s)
Title
Untitled (postmortem portrait of infant with flowers)
Classification
Photographs
Work Type
photograph
Date
c. 1855
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/49758

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Hand-colored quarter-plate daguerreotype
Technique
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
image: 6.3 x 8.4 cm (2 1/2 x 3 5/16 in.)
plate, sight: 8.3 x 10.7 cm (3 1/4 x 4 3/16 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Kate, Maurice R. and Melvin R. Seiden Purchase Fund for Photographs
Accession Year
2005
Object Number
P2005.12
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

  • Ancient to Modern, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2012 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 2100 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/08/2021 - 02/28/2022

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu