Artwork Page for Portrait of a Woman

Details / Information for Portrait of a Woman

Portrait of a Woman

1860s

America

Medium
Tintype
Measurements
Overall: 9.8 x 9 x 2.1 cm (3 7/8 x 3 9/16 x 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Julius L. Greenfield Photography Acquisition Fund 2022.13
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

During the first decades of photography, portraits far outnumbered every other type of image.

Description

It seemed a miracle that anyone could afford to have an accurate record of their own likeness or those of their loved ones. This portrait is an excellent example of the hundreds of thousands of portraits produced by commercial photographers in mid-nineteenth-century America. Small scale yet housed in an elaborately decorated thermoplastic case, it was intended to be carried by its owner or displayed on parlor tables or knickknack shelves.
A vertically oriented tintype photograph portrait depicts a woman with light skin tone turned slightly to our right while looking toward us. Dark hair curls over her forehead, and she wears a dark dress with a white lace collar and a light bow. A thin choker with a pendant circles her neck. The oval image is set within an ornate, gold-toned rectangular frame with scrolled designs at the corners and a textured border.

Portrait of a Woman

1860s

America

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