Sixth plate ambrotype. Full leatherette case.  

Fascinating ambrotype portrait of a woman nursing a newborn child while an older child stands at her side. The subject focuses directly on the photographer’s lens while her wiggling child breastfeeds. Covered to the neck in a conservative dress, the mother’s only exposed skin is her breast- a highly unusual pose defying the strict sensibilities of the time. 

Only a handful of portraits that depict breastfeeding women from the Daguerrian era of photography are known, and few are held outside of institutions. A rare acquisition opportunity. 

 [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards] [Women, Women’s History, Suffragettes, Women’s Movement, Suffrage]