Skip to main content

Mary Ann Meade

Mary Ann Meade
Artist
Meade Brothers Studio, active c. 1840 - c. 1869
Sitter
Mary Ann Meade, c. 1824 - 1903
Date
c. 1850
Type
Photograph
Medium
Sixth-plate daguerreotype
Dimensions
Image/Sight: 6.4 × 5.1 cm (2 1/2 × 2")
Mat (brass): 8.2 × 7 cm (3 1/4 × 2 3/4")
Case open: 9.6 × 17 × 1.6 cm (3 3/4 × 6 11/16 × 5/8")
Case closed: 9.6 × 8.5 × 1.9 cm (3 3/4 × 3 3/8 × 3/4")
Topic
Interior
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Table
Costume\Outerwear\Shawl
Costume\Headgear\Hat\Bonnet
Cased object
Mary Ann Meade: Female
Mary Ann Meade: Visual Arts\Artist\Photographer
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Dudley Emerson Lyons. Conservation made possible by a grant from the Smithsonian's Collections Care and Preservation Fund
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
S/NPG.85.255
Exhibition Label
Born London, England
A daguerreotypist in her own right, Mary Ann Meade began her career in the successful photog- raphy business founded around 1840 by her brothers, Charles and Henry Meade. After Charles’s death in 1858, Mary Ann gained greater visibility in the gallery’s operations. At a time when few women worked behind the camera, she was listed as a photographer in Trow’s New York City Directory (1861–62). In 1861, an article about the Meade Brothers gallery noted, “Mr. [Henry] Meade and his sister attend personally to visitors.” By June 1863, Mary Ann had become the gallery’s director and was billed as “Successor to MEADE BROTHERS.”
Nacida en Londres, Inglaterra
La daguerrotipista Mary Ann Meade comenzó su carrera en el exitoso negocio fotográfico fundado hacia 1840 por sus hermanos, Charles y Henry Meade. A la muerte de Charles en 1858, Mary Ann tuvo mayor prominencia en las operaciones. En tiempos en que pocas mujeres trabajaban detrás de la cámara, aparece identificada como fotógrafa en el Trow’s New York City Directory (1861–62). En 1861, un artículo sobre la galería de los Meade señala que “el Sr. [Henry] Meade y su hermana atienden personalmente a los visitantes”. Para junio de 1863, Mary Ann dirigía la galería y se promocionaba como “Sucesora de MEADE BROTHERS”.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view