The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Medallion Portrait of a Woman

Medallion Portrait of a Woman

c. 1850
(American, 1811–1894)
(American, 1808–1901)
America, 19th century
daguerreotype, whole-plate
Image: 20 x 15 cm (7 7/8 x 5 7/8 in.); Framed: 32.5 x 27.3 cm (12 13/16 x 10 3/4 in.); Matted: 61 x 50.8 cm (24 x 20 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2002.30
Location: not on view

Description

Southworth, a druggist, and Hawes, a carpenter and self-taught painter, operated a daguerreotype studio together in Boston that served the city’s elite. Masters of the aesthetic and technical aspects of the medium, they built the first skylight in Boston to supply a clear, strong light in their studio. Another of their innovations was the addition of an extra layer of silver to their plates to enhance the luminosity and level of polish of their daguerreotypes. This medallion portrait is an example of the most difficult and expensive portrait mode of the 1850s. A daguerreotype plate was first masked and then a perforated template was moved around to take separate exposures on the same plate using a mechanism Southworth patented.
  • Cheating Death: Portrait Photography’s First Half Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 22, 2016-February 5, 2017).
    Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-September 16, 2007); Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh, PA (October 3, 2009-January 3, 2010).
    Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro Collection of American Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 26-September 10, 2003).
  • {{cite web|title=Medallion Portrait of a Woman|url=false|author=Albert Sands Southworth, Josiah Johnson Hawes|year=c. 1850|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2002.30