Portrait of Frederick Douglass
George Kendall Warren
American, 1834–1884
Frederick Douglass
American, 1817 or 1818–1895
1879
A small 1879 albumen silver print (carte de visite) portrait made to present the sitter’s character and public presence in a compact, distributable form.
Up close and sepia-toned, the tightly cropped face—with an intense, contemplative gaze, wispy white hair, and a textured beard—pulls attention to the sitter’s expression and bearing.
As a widely circulated carte de visite, it exemplifies how 19th-century photographic portraiture made likenesses portable and influential in shaping public memory and authority.
Medium
Albumen silver print (carte de visite)
Dimensions
3 1/2 × 2" (8.9 × 5.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Arthur M. Bullowa Fund
Accession
575.2022
Palette
Exhibitions
