Arthur Holland, Post-Mortem
Artist
Unknown
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1855
MediumSixth plate daguerreotype
DimensionsOverall: 2 3/4 x 3 1/4 in. (7 x 8.3 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number88.174
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a sixth plate daguerreotype photograph.Label Texttop Untitled (Arthur Holland, Postmortem), ca. 1855 Daguerreotype bottom Untitled (Annie Holland), ca. 1855 Daguerreotype During the height of the daguerreotype craze in the 1850s, attitudes toward children were changing. No longer seen as miniature adults or inherently corrupt, children were being described in new terms as angelic, playful, and in need of special protection, much as we do today. High infant mortality rates (sometimes more than 30%) emphasized the delicacy of youth, and daguerreotypists responded with sentimentalizing portraits. As seen in these images of siblings, such portraits not only conveyed the innocence of youth, but often memorialized its fragility. Museum purchase 88.174, 88.175 Exhibition History"The Portrait in America," The Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photography Galleries, The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Jan. 26 - April 8, 1990. "Mirror Images: Daguerre and the First Photographic Process," International Photography Hall of Fame & Museum, July 7 - October 1, 2001. "Photographs Take Time: Pictures from the Chrysler Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, April 6 - August 26, 2018.Published ReferencesBrooks Johnson. _The Portrait in America_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA. 1990: pp. 10, 23.
