Getty Museum

[Black Fireman in Uniform Holding a Brass Horn]

Date

1855–1856

Medium

Hand-colored daguerreotype

Culture

American

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

Perhaps this fireman's portrait was made to commemorate a heroic deed, for which he received the large medal suspended prominently on his chest. This fireman wears a full uniform with the hat of his particular fire company; he holds a cornet, the instrument used to warn passersby of the fire wagon's approach. Hand-coloring enhances the medal around his neck: the glistening gold and pale red draw attention to the medal and its broad silk ribbon. A faint rouge applied to the sitter's cheeks gives him a warmth that the black-and-white palette of the daguerreotype was unable to portray. getty.edu, Interpretive Content Department, 2008.

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