Earliest Know Photo of an American First Lady

[Anita]

July 1, 2024
The National Portrait Gallery purchased an 1846 daguerreotype of Dolley Madison.
A surviving daguerreotype from this 1846 sitting recently resurfaced after decades in obscurity. Now identified as the earliest known photograph of an American first lady, the portrait went up for auction last week at Sotheby’s, where it fetched more than six times its estimated value of $50,000 to $70,000. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery paid $456,000 for the daguerreotype, which will reside in the museum’s permanent collection alongside the earliest known photograph of a United States president: an 1843 portrait of John Quincy Adams, acquired at auction for $360,500 in 2017.

https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/nat...first-lady

smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-smithsonian-acquires-the-earliest-known-photograph-of-an-american-first-lady

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-new...180984639/

[RJNorton]

What a wonderful discovery!