Group of young men
Artist
James P. Ball
(American, 1825 - 1904)
Dateca. 1850-1855
MediumDaguerreotype
DimensionsPlate (quarter): 3 1/4 × 4 1/4 inches (8.26 × 10.8 cm)
Mat: 3 1/4 × 4 1/4 inches (8.26 × 10.8 cm)
Mat: 3 1/4 × 4 1/4 inches (8.26 × 10.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2010.14.3
SignedOn mat recto, lower left corner, stamped: "J.P. BALL";
On mat recto, lower right corner, stamped: "CINCINN"
Inscribednone
Markingsnone
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of three boys, each with his hair parted on the side. The boy on the far right is wearing plaid pants and seated in an arm chair. This quarter plate daguerreotype is housed in a decorative brass mat with a preserver but no case.Gallery LabelIn 1849, James Ball moved to Cincinnati, where he opened his own studio and produced some of the finest work in the region. As a leading daguerreotypist, Ball, who was African American, attracted a large and diverse clientele of middle and upper class whites and African Americans alike who visited his Great Daguerrean Gallery of the West located in a fashionable downtown area. In this daguerreotype, the children of biracial parents sit clothed in their finest before the camera; in the 19th century, it was a widely held belief that any amount of African heritage made one “black.
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