Daguerreotype In Glass Hanging Frame

230x190mm glass framed picture. Edged in gold leaf paper. Rectangular white card mat and with rounded corners edged with gold. Two hanging rings in back. 140x105mm daguerreotype picture of an Eastern House. Inscription on back 'No3 Park St'.

Daguerreotype cameras were first imported to India in 1840, by Thackler, Spink and Company. We don't know exactly where in Kolkata this image was taken, but the inscription on back of the image reads 'No 3 Park St'. Photography in India was initially a luxury and novelty, and cameras were largely only available to wealthy Europeans. However, as photographic societies and studios spread in the 1860s, Indian photographers established photographic studios and businesses. Photography was a hugely powerful instrument during the colonial period of British rule in India. This new technology was used to classify, control and create knowledge about Indian landscapes, people and cultures.