Daguerreotype of a woman by Antoine Claudet

1/6th plate daguerreotype photograph by Antoine Claudet. Subject: upper body portrait of a woman with her elbow resting on a pile of books and her chin resting on her hand.

This daguerreotype was made at Antione Claudet’s studio at the Adeliade Gallery in London. Claudet had a keen interest in technology and was an early adopter of the Daguerreotype process. The Adeliade Gallery was a popular London visitor attraction, where for a shilling – visitors could view the latest scientific inventions. In 1841, Claudet set up a studio on the roof of the Adeliade Gallery, where visitors could come and sit for a portrait, just like this one. Claudet had developed a new way to speed up the daguerreotype process, making the format more suitable for portraiture.