Scholars of the Emerson School for Girls
Artist
Southworth & Hawes
(American, active 1843 - 1863)
Collaborator
Josiah Johnson Hawes
(American, 1808-1901)
Collaborator
Albert Sands Southworth
(American, 1811-1894)
CultureAmerican
Dateca.1850
MediumDaguerreotype
Dimensions6 1/2 × 8 1/2 in. (16.5 × 21.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Susan and Paul Hirschbiel
Object number2019.19.14
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a full-plate daguerreotype of a group of students at the most prominent school for young women in Boston. Although there are over 30 figures in the portrait, the subtle variations in posture, gesture, and facial expression create the impression of a group made up of vivid and distinct individuals. The Emerson School for Girls was etablished in 1823 by George Barrell Emerson, the second cousin of the poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson.ProvenanceSouthworth and Hawes, ca. 1850-1894; Josiah Johnson Hawes, 1894-1901; Edward Hawes, son of Josiah J. Hawes, to Holman’s Print Shop, Boston, Ma., 1901-1943; David Feigenbaum, Marblehead, Ma., 1943-1998; David Feigenbaum’s descendants via Sotheby's to Susan and Paul Hirschbiel, 4/27/1999; gifted to the Chrysler Museum of Art, 2019.
Ernest C. Withers
1957, printed 1996
