2008.304: Untitled (half length portrait of African-American man, seated and leaning against tapestry-covered table)
PhotographsA Black man is nicely dressed in a suit, vest, high collar shirt and tie. He faces front, his left arm leans on a table covered with a decorative cloth, both hands are closed. He fills about three-quarters of the frame from the waist up, slightly off center. His pensive face looks at the viewer, he’s clean-shaven, no smile. Light illuminates half of his face from the upper left. The background is dark and undescribed. The daguerreotype sits inside a metal frame nestled inside a classic velvet daguerreotype hinged case.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2008.304
- People
-
Unidentified Artist
- Title
- Untitled (half length portrait of African-American man, seated and leaning against tapestry-covered table)
- Classification
- Photographs
- Work Type
- photograph
- Date
- 1840s-1850s
- Places
- Creation Place: North America, United States
- Culture
- American
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/330136
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Sixth-plate daguerreotype
- Technique
- Daguerreotype
- Dimensions
- 8.3 x 7 cm (3 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.)
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Richard and Ronay Menschel Fund for the Acquisition of Photographs
- Accession Year
- 2008
- Object Number
- 2008.304
- Division
- European and American Art
- Contact
- am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
Publication History
- Colleen Walsh, "Defining themselves; Two 19th century daguerreotypes allowed African Americans to show their lives as they were", Harvard Gazette (Cambridge, MA, 2010)
Exhibition History
- GenEd US12 American Encounters: Art, Contact, and Conflict, 1560-1860 (S427) Spring 2012, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2012 - 05/12/2012
- 32Q: 2100 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/17/2016 - 11/01/2017
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