RICHARD BEARD

The Earl of Lovelace, 1841

Details

RICHARD BEARD
The Earl of Lovelace, 1841
Ninth-plate daguerreotype, gilt matt stamped Beard Patentee, Wharton case stamped with the Royal coat-of-arms, patent information T. Wharton No. 791 24 August 1841, title and date Earl Lovelace Ada Byron's Husband 1841 scratched on verso and overwritten in pencil, in black papier-mâché frame with ink manuscript label The Earl of Lovelace dec'd, Ada Byron's husband sole daughter of my house & home. on verso (lacks hanging ring).

Lot Essay

Richard Beard established the first public photography studio in London at the Royal Polytechnic Institution on 23 March 1841. Examples of his earliest daguerreotypes, in Wharton cases with black frames more commonly used for silhouettes, are now uncommon. It is unusual to find a dated portrait of a named sitter from the first year of operation of the studio.

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