The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Washington, DC, has acquired the earliest known photograph of US First Lady Dolley Madison, the wife of the fourth U.S. president, James Madison, for its permanent collection.
The newly discovered image of the former first lady is a remarkable quarter-plate daguerreotype by John Plumbe Jr. that most likely dates to 1846.
The daguerreotype was bought by the Smithsonian Institution for $456,000 at a Sotheby's auction in June.
Sotheby's said the portrait is "one of the exceedingly few surviving photographs of the woman who has defined for two centuries what it means to be the First Lady of the United States of America."
According to the auction company, the photo was discovered while its sellers cleared a basement after a relative's passing.
The Smithsonian Institution reported that Plumbe took the quarter-plate-sized daguerreotype of Ms. Madison in her late 70s, most likely in the spring or summer of 1846.
Plumbe, an English immigrant who arrived in America in 1821, began a professional photography career around 20 years after his arrival. He developed studios in over a dozen towns and sold his company in 1847. In addition to his portrait of Ms. Madison, he produced the earliest surviving image of the U.S. Capitol.
According to the White House Historical Association, the first lady was known for "her hospitality" and "establishing herself at the center of the Washington social season" during her husband's presidency.
James, the father of the U.S. Constitution, became the president from 1809 to 1817.
The image of his wife has been added to the collection of over 230 first lady pictures held by the National Portrait Gallery.
Furthermore, the acquisition follows the 2017 purchase by the National Portrait Gallery of the first known image of a U.S. President, an 1843 daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams.
