1837 test portrait of M Huet by Louis Daguerre, © Études photographiques, France
Toronto. … is in the eating, or so they say. About two years before announcing the Daguerreotype process, Louise Daguerre tested his process by taking a portrait of M Huet. The reproduction in issue 24-4 is courtesy of and is © Études photographiques, France.
The portrait of M Huet as taken by Daguerre is believed to be [1999] the oldest portrait taken by photography. The image was provided by Luis Nadeau who translated the French write-up to English with this précis, “In a recent issue of the French review Etudes photographiques, the oldest known portrait photograph has been identified as that taken by the inventor himself, Louis Daguerre in 1837. That was two years before the official announcement of the daguerreotype process.”
The actual article begins, “According to Andre Gunthert, the daguerreotype was found some ten years ago at a flea market by Marc Pagneux, an art dealer and one of the most respected French dealers of historical photographs. He paid 600 francs ($240) for the 5.8 x 4.5 cm plate which was mounted within a frame bearing the name of Daguerre.
“This in itself is not significant as there are a lot of plates of this type on the market. As a member of the Societé française de photographie, M. Pagneux asked another member Jacques Roquencourt, one of the better known Daguerre specialists in France, to help him examine the plate further.
“The frame was opened – it contained another frame, invisible from the outside, bearing an inscription: ‘M. Huet / 1837’.” …
Members enjoyed reading this and all the Jan/Feb 1999 Journal by viewing the issue 24-4 pdf file on the free members-only DVD/thumb drive. You can read it too, just join the PHSC following the material above and/or at right titled ‘Membership’. Questions? Email Lilianne at member@phsc.ca.
