Unknown Maker, American

Invented by Frenchman Louis Daguerre in 1837, daguerreotype was the first photographic process. Within a camera, a chemically treated copper plate with a silver coating was exposed to light. When developed, a positive image was created on the copper plate itself. There was no negative; only the single representation on the plate. This was the limitation of the process. There was no easy way to reproduce the image. This daguerreotype is typical of the form's usual purpose, subject, and style: to capture a posed portrait.