(PRESIDENTS) Daguerreotype portrait of James Buchanan

Sale 2404 - Lot 230

Price Realized: $ 2,000

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500

(PRESIDENTS.) Daguerreotype portrait of James Buchanan. Sixth-plate daguerreotype in contemporary gilt morocco case; vertical scratch in image, otherwise minimal wear. Np, circa 1856

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Additional Details

The original of this photograph was the source for a March 1851 miniature watercolor portrait on ivory by John Henry Brown. The painting (presently held by the White House Historical Association) was in turn the basis for several engraved images of Buchanan. Brown was well-known for working from daguerreotypes to produce his portraits, which he later also did with Lincoln in 1860 (see Johnson, American Portrait Miniatures in the Manney Collection, pages 88-89). The present example is apparently a second-generation image, probably produced in support of Buchanan's presidential campaign in 1856. The case by H.A. Eickmeyer bears a 27 February 1855 patent date.