Daguerreotypes by Hartley Webster
Abstract
Known works by early New Zealand daguerreotypists are rare, being both scarce in number and difficult to identify. A reference in a journal entry by Rev. Charles Baker reported the creation of a “portrait in a machine” by Hartley Webster in 1852. Auckland Museum staff asked Baker family descendants about the existence of a daguerreotype matching the entry. This led to the discovery of two daguerreotypes inside a writing desk, one of which was labelled 1852. The pair were taken during a visit by Hartley Webster to the Bay of Islands and provide confirmed examples of his early work. This, in turn, has enabled the identification of further Webster works in the Auckland War Memorial Museum pictorial collection.
References
England Census, Hampshire, Portsmouth, digital image s.v. “Harthy Webster,” Ancestry.com.
-1864 New Zealand Electoral Roll, Auckland Province 1853 New Ulster Gazette, digital image s.v. “Alexander Alison,” Ancestry.com.
Baker, Charles. “Journal of Charles Baker,” 1852, Charles Baker – Papers, MS-22, Auckland War Memorial Museum (Auckland).
Bethel, Denise. “Notes on an Early Daguerreotype of Walt Whitman,” Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 9 (Winter 1992): 148-53.
Daily Southern Cross, “Daguerreotype,” April 16, 1852: 1.
Daily Southern Cross, “Likenesses,” August 27, 1852: 1.
Giles, Keith. “Hartley Webster: Auckland’s First Resident Professional Photographer.” NZ Legacy 20, no.1 (2008): 5-10.
Higgins, Shaun. “Early New Zealand Daguerreotypes.” The Daguerreian Annual 2015 (2015): 145-153.
Lyttlelton Times, “To Photographic Artists and Amateurs,” September 12, 1857: 5.
New Zealander, “Daguerreotype Portraits,” June 21 1848: 4.
New Zealander, “Photography,” Novermber 25, 1864: 4.
Nolan, Sean. Fixed in Time. Portland, Oregon, 2015.
Nolan, Sean. “Dating American Daguerreotypes.” Daguerreotype Journal (Autumn 2015): 29-37.
Copyright (c) 2016 Shaun Higgins
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