Self-portrait, Reading Book in Lab Coat

Artist John Adams Whipple (American, 1822 - 1891)

Dateca. 1842-1843

MediumDaguerreotype

DimensionsPlate (sixth): 3 1/4 × 2 3/4 inches (8.26 × 6.99 cm)
Case (open): 3 5/8 × 6 3/8 × 3/8 inches (9.21 × 16.19 × 0.95 cm)
Case (closed): 3 5/8 × 3 1/8 × 1/2 inches (9.21 × 7.94 × 1.27 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.599

Signednone

InscribedOn original seal, in pencil: "Great grandfather (?) Whipple."; On paper liner behind plate, in pencil: [? possibly] "with head / 3667".

Markingsnone

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Not on view

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DescriptionImage of a young man wearing a vest and tie with a lab coat. He's seated at a table with a stack of books - one of which he holds open and reads. This sixth plate cased daguerreotype is housed in an oval brass mat inside of a case with a lyre motif and a pink silk liner.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Rotation 20. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, October 8, 2015 – February 28, 2016, no cat.

Gallery Label

As daguerreotypy advanced in the 1840s, specific cities emerged as centers for the growing profession. In Boston, Massachusetts, John Adams Whipple operated one of the city’s most successful studios. His early self-portrait presents him as a young man in his twenties, reading in a lab coat, a nod to his interest in chemistry and science.

Provenance

Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1998;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.

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