Description
Rare daguerreotype photographs of early American folk art portrait paintings, c. 1850s. The pair of painted portraits were painted predate their portrait photographs by several decades, likely dating to the 1810s or ’20s based on the dress of the subjects. Their style (especially in the depiction of the bonneted woman) bears a remarkable resemblance to the work of Ammi Phillips (1788-1865), an itinerant portrait painter in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.
At the time the paintings were brought to a daguerreotype studio to be photographed, their sitters may have been deceased or perhaps preferred to be remembered by their younger visages, painted decades before the invention of the camera. In all likelihood, the images were taken to share the family portraits with descendants during the dispersal of an estate so each could retain reflections of their painted memories.
Part of the “Gate of Memories: Things Forgotten” collection.
Condition
Excellent condition with case separated at binding.
Measurements
Each in case: 3.75 x 3.2 inches
Shipping
Free in the continental United States. If an international buyer, please contact me for a shipping estimate by clicking here.
