The Lost Wedding Daguerreotype of Jenny Lind and Otto Goldschmidt by Southworth & Hawes

Jenny Lind and Otto Goldschmidt

whole plate daguerreotype by Albert Sands Southworth & Josiah Johnson Hawes, 1852

provenance:

Descended in the family of Hardy Louis Mudgett, manager of the Boston Music Hall.

A week or two before their wedding, the "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind and her German fiancé Otto Goldschmidt visited the Tremont Row studio for their wedding portrait. Nine years younger than his bride, Goldschmidt, a composer and pianist, had been introduced at the age of sixteen to Miss Lind by Chopin in Leipzig. He had long been solicitous of her well-being and for many years served as her accompanist. Their portrait was kept a secret by Southworth & Hawes until after their wedding on February 5, 1852, which took Boston and the cultural world by surprise.

- from The Spirit of Fact: The Daguerreotypes of Southworth & Hawes, 1843-1862 by Robert A. Sobieszek and Odette M. Appel, page 78

half plate copy, maker unknown

Note the white spot near Otto's chin in the daguerreotype pictured above; the original daguerreotype was most probably retouched to cover a blemish. In the half plate copy it appears as a bright white spot, which I suspect, is due to the reflective properties of the medium being reproduced. During conservation of the original daguerreotype the pigment became visible on the surface of the plate. See page 1 of the conservation report by Mike Robinson below.

Century Darkroom Conservation Report page 1

Century Darkroom Conservation Report page 2

Century Darkroom Conservation Report page 3