[Postmortem Portrait of an Infant] (Main View)

Posed as if sleeping peacefully, a small child rests her head against a crepe-covered pillow and her hands on a satin blanket.

"Secure the Shadow 'ere the Substance Fade," a popular advertising slogan, reminded customers that a daguerreotype portrait would last forever. Long after a child had grown or age had transformed youth, the daguerreotype would preserve the image of a loved one. The large number of postmortem portraits of children gives the slogan special poignancy, a sad reminder of the high mortality rates in the 1800s, particularly for children. The practice of postmortem photography persisted into the first decades of the twentieth century, particularly in African-American communities.