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Contact: Charles Schwartz
Email: cms@cs-photo.com
Phone: 212-534-4496
Company: Charles Schwartz Ltd.
Company: 21 East 90th Street
Company: New York, NY 10128 USA
URL: http://www.cs-photo.com
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| Ref.#: 11205 |
| Price: $3,000 |
| Medium: Daguerreotype, 1/6 plate |
| Image Date: 1848 - 1852 |
| Print Date: 1848 - 1852 |
| Dimensions: 3.5 x 2.5 in. (89 x 64 mm) |
| Photo Country: United States (USA) |
| Photographer Country: United States (USA) |
| Description: Augustus Washington was one of the first African American photographers, and he had a very successful daguerreotype studio in Hartford, CT.
Washington's name and studio address are stamped into the inner mat. "Washington" appears on the lower left side of mat, "136 Main St / Hartford" appears in lower right. The back of the case is also stamped with Washington's information: Washington Gallery Hartford / 136 Main Street.
The daguerreotype is accompanied by an original copy of The Connecticut Courant newspaper from July 20, 1850, which has a large advertisement for Washington Daguerrean Gallery at 136 Main Street in Hartford. Also included is a copy of The Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin from 1974 with an article about Washington and a reproduction of his labeled daguerreotype case, which matches the one pictured here.
Augustus Washington was born in Trenton, NJ in 1820 or 1821, the son of a former slave and a woman of South Asian descent. He learned to make daguerreotypes in his first year of college in order to finance his education, but ended up having to leave Dartmouth College in 1844 due to increasing debts. He moved to Hartford, CT where he taught black students at a local school, and opened a daguerreotype studio in 1846. Washington’s studio proved to be one of the most successful establishments of its kind. While many Hartford daguerreotypists lasted only a few years, Washington continued to make portraits until 1853, when he emigrated to Liberia with his wife and children. 1 |
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