Figure077

Citation

Unknown Photographer Photographer. “two men.” circa 1845. Harvard Peabody Museum (T1897 35-5-10; 53068). Mirror of Race, 11 Feb. 2021, mirrorofrace.bc.edu/items/show/268. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

Title

two men

Subject

unknown

Creator

Unknown Photographer Photographer

Date

circa 1845

Type

studio portrait

Identifier

Figure077

Rights Holder

Harvard Peabody Museum (T1897 35-5-10; 53068)

Original Format

daguerreotype

Physical Dimensions

Sixth Plate (2.75 x 3.25 inches)

Factual Commentary

This daguerreotype comes from the collection of the Harvard Peabody Museum. I was probably collected by the Harvard naturalist Louis Agassiz as visual evidence for his work on what he believed to the the separate races of humanity. While we do not know who either of the men were, the image, which dates from the mid-1840s, is likely to have been made in the Boston area. The man on the left is clearly of European descent, and the man on the right is Chinese, to judge by his clothing. We hope that further research will identify one or both of them.

Interpretive Commentary

There are many interesting details to this photograph, and while we can for now only speculate as to what those details might mean, they might also provide clues to identifying the two men.

For example, the Chinese man wears well-tailored clothes, possibly silk, and he has very long fingernails, so clearly he was not a worker. So was he a Chinese government official, perhaps an ambassador? A student come to study at an American university? A wealthy merchant?

The white man also wears an elegant and expensive suit. Why did he pose with the Chinese man? Was he the escort to the visitor? Did he bring his guest to have this daguerreotype made to commemorate an event? He seems relatively relaxed, and looks into the camera with an almost familiar gaze, as if he has done this often before. The Chinese man, by contrast, seems stiff and formal, and does not engage the viewer at all; perhaps this was his first time having a photograph taken .

Alternative Title

Collection

Mirror of Race