Home»All Photographs»Everything GURNEY»Jeremiah Gurney Daguerreotypes»189 Broadway Studio 1840-1852»Jeremiah Gurney Daguerreotype - 6th plate Young Woman with Bottle Curls - 1842-43

As described by previous collector to record history of previous ownership.
This is as I found it ... An early Gurney NY Daguerreotype housed in a M B Brady, case maker harp style leather over wood case. There cannot be any doubt that this was taken by Gurney as his name appears in the image on the bottom of the vase. This is a museum quality Daguerreotype of historical importance. There is only a mention of this signature in all of the research that I have done and that image is in the Getty Museum. This very early image is of a woman with bottle curls gazing away from the camera. A painted background is behind her and on the left is the vase with the name "Gurney N.Y.". I found this at an antique show in south Texas many years ago and bought it from a lady that was selling mostly kitchen ware. The copper backed plate is flat with slightly clipped corners. The original seals are long gone but I have resealed it with P90 tape. The plate has not been cleaned in any way. And yes, I found it just like this, in this Mathew B. Brady case. Imagine Gurney buying his cases from Mathew B. Brady ... two greats in the history of photography.
This early Daguerreotype image is in great condition with only a sprinkling of dust spots as well as tarnish and slight mat scrapes around the mat opening. This has not been opened or cleaned in any way. The plate is very shiny polished silver. I think this could be dust free easily but I will let the next owner do as they wish. The case has a poorly repaired spine.

This image is dated 1842-1843 (or earlier) to coincide with the first year Mathew Brady started to produce daguerreotype cases at 164 Fulton Street - a block away from Jeremiah's Broadway studio. Mathew was only 19-20 years old when he made this case.

Last 2 images are held at the Getty Museum. They are also from Gurney's 189 Broadway studio. Same sitter identified as Edward Corrington Jr. "Uncle Ed". Sitting is recorded as taken in 1842 - a very early set of daguerreotypes. Painted landscape backdrop is attributed to the early artists of the Hudson River School - a very rare and innovative photographic practice for the early 1840's. Images are noted as published in Bates, and Isabel Lowry, The Silver Canvas: Daguerreotype Masterpieces from the J. Paul Getty Museum, exh. cat. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1998)