3 OF 21 
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Bt
3 of 21 portraits of Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Bt
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Bt
by John Jabez Edwin Mayall
daguerreotype, circa 1848
3 3/8 in. x 2 3/4 in. (86 mm x 70 mm)
Purchased with help from The Art Fund, 1996
Primary Collection
NPG P660
Click on the links below to find out more:
Sitterback to top
- Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Bt (1792-1871), Mathematician and astronomer; son of William Herschel. Sitter in 21 portraits.
Artistback to top
- John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901), Photographer. Artist associated with 473 portraits.
This portraitback to top
As a daguerreotype, this is a unique image and is the earliest recorded photograph of Herschel. Linking one of photography's scientific pioneers with one of its leading early practitioners, J.J.E. Mayall, it is of outstanding importance in the history of photography in Britain.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Cooper, John, A Guide to the National Portrait Gallery, 2009, p. 43
- Funnell, Peter (introduction); Marsh, Jan, A Guide to Victorian and Edwardian Portraits, 2011, p. 24
- Jordanova, Ludmilla, Defining Features: Scientific and Medical Portraits 1660-2000, 2000 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 14 April to 17 September 2000), p. 18
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 299
Thematic collections
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