ca. 1840-50’s, [post mortem daguerreotype portrait of a child, cradled in arms of a woman], W.A. Pratt A dramatically lit horizontal post-mortem image of a tiny baby placed upon the aproned lap of an [black] woman, only her hands visible to signify her race. A superb, and cerebral image, that speaks volumes of the complex interelationships between slaves and masters in the Ante-bellum south. via Cowan’s Auctions

ca. 1840-50’s, [post mortem daguerreotype portrait of a child, cradled in arms of a woman], W.A. Pratt

A dramatically lit horizontal post-mortem image of a tiny baby placed upon the aproned lap of an [black] woman, only her hands visible to signify her race. A superb, and cerebral image, that speaks volumes of the complex interelationships between slaves and masters in the Ante-bellum south.

via Cowan’s Auctions