Postmortem Daguerreotype
date: label: Date made
content: circa 1840-1860
notes: label: Description
content: Often photographs are cherished for the lasting memories of family loved ones and friends they provide. Sometimes a photograph is used to perpetuate the memory of a family member lost in death. In the early years following the invention of photography in 1839, when photographs were more costly, a postmortem daguerreotype of a deceased person might be the only photograph to exist of the individual. Usually postmortem photographs show the individual alone reclined in a sleeping position, or sometimes children were held in the arms.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
label: See more items in
content: Photography
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PG.73.04.8
label: catalog number
content: 73.4.8
label: accession number
content: 306573
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Photograph
label: Other Terms
content: Photograph; Photograph; Daguerreotype
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal, brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, copper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall:;