Sir Charles Augustus Murray, 1806 - 1895
About this artwork
This daguerreotype was taken at 107 Regent Street, where Claudet opened a neo-Renaissance 'Temple to Photography' in 1851. Sir Charles Augustus Murray travelled in America in the 1830s, joining a tribe of wandering Pawnees for some months. He fell in love with a young woman, living near Niagara, whose wealthy father was against their relationship. Murray declared his love obliquely in a romantic novel, which he published in 1844 and married Elsie Wadsworth after her father's death in 1849. In 1846, he was appointed Consul-general for Egypt and this photograph presumably includes servants he brought back to Britain.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Antoine Claudet (1797 - 1867) French
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title:Sir Charles Augustus Murray, 1806 - 1895
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date created:About 1851
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materials:Hand-coloured daguerreotype
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measurements:11.40 x 15.00 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Presented by Mrs Elizabeth Murray 1991
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accession number:PGP 275.1
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
Antoine Claudet
Antoine Claudet
Originally a glass merchant, Antoine Claudet became one of the first commercial photographers. In 1841 he set up his studio on the roof of a building behind St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. In that year he had made a critical discovery which reduced the exposure time for daguerreotype portraits...