Vigo County Historical Society

Daguerreotypes big hit in 1800s

A photograph, which literally means "light writing," was developed early in the 19th century. A type of picture made on a copper plate coated with silver is a daguerreotype.

Before 1816, a French chemist, Joseph N. Niepce (1765-1833), had produced a negative photograph and before 1827, a direct positive. He worked with a painter, Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (1796-1851) to develop a daguerreotypy. Daguerre presented this process to the French Academy of Sciences in 1839.

Even before Daguerre had published his discovery, Samuel F.G. Morse had visited him for information about this process so he could take the new to the United States.

The demand for daguerreotypy was immediately great in France, England and the United States. The United States became an expanding market and more than 3 million photographic portraits were made in one year before the Civil War.

These lovely photographic images have become family heirlooms and many can be seen in the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The earliest known daguerreotype is a Daguerre still-life of a portion of his studio made in 1837.

The pictures were housed in embossed gutta percha of leather cases. The picture was framed in gold-colored metal and the inner side of the front cover was lined with plush or velvet.

A tintype picture used a black enamel plate. Hamilton L. Smith of Kenyon College, Ohio, developed this type of picture in 1856.

Because it was less expensive and simpler, it practically replaced the daguerreotype by the 1860s.

It is difficult to tell if a picture is a tintype or a daguerreotype. However, the tintype is usually less clear and more faded. The family portraits were generally stiff.

The collector of these types of pictures may consider the subject matter, the photographer, the condition, size and style of the case.