DescriptionThe Boston partnership of Southworth and Hawes produced the finest portrait daguerreotypes in America for a clientele that included leading political, intellectual, and artistic figures. This first photographic process, invented by Louis Daguerre (1787–1851), spread rapidly around the world after its public presentation in Paris in 1839. Exposed in a camera obscura and developed in mercury vapors, each highly polished silvered copper plate is a unique photograph that, viewed in proper light, exhibits extraordinary detail and three-dimensionality. Lemuel Shaw's imposing presence, sculpted by intense sunlight and gifted artistic vision, is a startling departure from the conventional posed portrait, customarily set in a studio and lit indirectly.

ProvenanceEdward S. Hawes, Alice Mary Hawes, and Marion Augusta Hawes, Boston

Signatures, Inscriptions, and MarkingsMarks: Hallmark, BR: Doublé / J.P. (see Spirit of Fact #9, p. 153)
Inscriptions: Inscribed in pencil, verso: "Lemuel Shaw"