Photo experts meet in Houston as US election approaches
A photograph of Dolley Madison – perhaps the earliest camera portrait of a U.S. First Lady – was auctioned this past summer for $456,000. It is now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian. The basement find of a lifetime – and, of special interest to a group about to meet in Houston.
The Dolley Madison portrait is a daguerreotype, made on a mirror-like silver surface backed with copper. Daguerreotypes are products of the earliest practical method of photography, made during a roughly 20-year period before the Civil War. No two are exactly alike. This one, dating from about 1846, was discovered while cleaning out the basement of a house whose owner had passed away.
This circa 1846 daguerreotype of First Lady Dolley Madison sold recently for $456,000 and is now owned by the National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian.
It’s just one example of the surprising connections between early photography and political life in this election season…highlighted by the meeting in Houston (October 17-19) of the leading international group dedicated to photography before 1900, The Daguerreian Society.
The group is holding its annual conference at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The Society brings together photo collectors, historians, preservation experts, museum curators and even some modern practitioners of the original process.
The MFAH has a remarkable collection of antique photographs, including one of the most important political daguerreotypes of all, a striking, large, full-length portrait of Sam Houston – who twice served as President of the Republic of Texas, represented the Lone Star state as one of its first two US Senators, and who also was elected governor.
This large and impressive portrait of the man who served as Texas Governor, U.S. Senator, and President of the Republic of Texas is one of the highlights of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It is a daguerreotype, made by the earliest practical method of photography.
Other examples of election-themed photographs from the past include the first photographic campaign badges, featuring tintype portraits of Abraham Lincoln; an unusual daguerreotype that seems to show two frontiersmen trading a ballot for a drink; and a number of photos showing people paying off their losing election bets – often by pulling the winner of the bet on a cart through the streets of an American town.
The election of 1860 saw the first widespread use of photographs on political badges, including tintypes of candidate Abraham Lincoln (Source: Library of Congress)
Frontier daguerreotype: Buying a vote? Possibly one of the earliest election-themed photographs made, these two frontier types seem to be trading a ballot for a drink at a saloon. Dating from before the Civil War, it’s owned by a member of The Daguerreian Society. (Source: Private collection via The Daguerreian Society)
"Paying the Election Bet": This photograph from 1872 shows a crowd of people in a New Hampshire town watching the loser of an election bet pull the winner around the town square. Just to rub it in, the winner is dressed in an Uncle Sam costume. (Source: Jeffrey Kraus Antique Photographics)
Although women could not vote at the time, there are photographs that show their influence…like the picture of the anti-saloon crusader Carrie Nation in a jail cell in Kansas. As Daguerreian Society member Bill Becker points out, “It’s hard to know who was more excited by that photo in its day – Carrie Nation’s fans….or her opponents.”
Carrie Nation in jail: The anti-saloon crusader Carrie Nation is shown in a Wichita, Kansas jail, reading a Bible, in 1901. While women could not vote in the US at the time, many were involved in the temperance movement that led to the prohibition of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933. (Source: Wm. B. Becker Collection / PhotographyMuseum.com)
The Daguerreian Society is presenting a Photo Fair, open to the public, where visitors can view and purchase original historic photographs, many of them 150 years old.
The Photo Fair is open from 10 a.m. to 4 pm at the InterContinental Houston hotel on Main Street on Saturday, October 19, and admission is $10. “It’s a chance to buy an actual piece of history,” says Becker, “you probably won’t find Dolley Madison there, but you never know what will turn up. And you don’t have to be rich to get started. I’ve seen actual daguerreotypes from the 1850s for as little as $20."
