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The daguerreotype, the
earliest photographic process, was announced in January 1839. It is a
medium relying on a silver-coated copper plate that is sensitized and
exposed in the camera and developed over mercury vapour. The resulting
image is formed at the molecular level and, consequently, is
characterized by subtle detail, clarity of definition, and a gradation
of tones that is unlike anything we see in photography today.
The Palmer Museum
acquired the large daguerreotype portrait of a man named James Duncan in
February 1997. Duncan graduated from the United States Military Academy
in 1834. Two years later, he served in the Florida war against the
Seminole Indians and commanded an artillery company during the war with
Mexico from 1846 to 1848. His heroics in the latter conflict caught the
attention of army officials, and Duncan rose rapidly from captain to
colonel. In late 1848, President James Polk appointed Colonel Duncan
inspector general of the United States Army. The daguerreotype in the
Palmer collection was made when Duncan came to New York City in December
1848, shortly before beginning his first inspection trip. A few months
later, while visiting troops in Mobile, Alabama, he contracted yellow
fever and died on July 3, 1849. Duncan's notoriety as a war hero was so
great that even three years after his death the most fashionable
portrait studio in New York City was still exhibiting his portrait as
one of the select "Illustrious Americans."
See larger Image
More information on;
Duncan's Battery, Company A, 2nd US
Artillery Mexican War
Source:
Mathew Brady
(American, c. 1823-1896), Portrait of James Duncan, c. 1848, half-plate
daguerreotype, Collection of the Palmer Museum of Art, Penn State, Photo
by Penn State Image Resource Centre |
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