Jenny Lind and Otto Goldschmidt
c. 1850
A mid-19th-century daguerreotype portrait in a small hinged case, made to fix and preserve the intimate likeness of two sitters as a personal keepsake.
The mirror-like plate pulls you close to the calm, closely posed faces rendered in sharp, tiny detail, framed by an oval gilt mat and a crimson velvet lining whose tarnish and blue-green spots betray the object’s age.
This early photographic object shows how the daguerreotype transformed portraiture—making precise, portable likenesses widely available and helping to establish modern practices of personal mementos and public image.
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
3 9/16 × 2 3/4" (9 × 7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of A. Conger Goodyear
Accession
593.1953
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
