Unidentified photographer
1840s-1850s
Charles Guillain (1808-1875) [To be verified]
DaguerreotypePrivate collection of Christopher WahrenChristopher Wahren (6 October 2016)
While some work on positive identification remains, I recently added to my personal collection an 1840s-50s daguerreotype believed to be the French naval captain, explorer, daguerreotypist and later admiral and Governor of New Caledonia, Charles Guillain (1808-1875). The daguerreotype is identified by inscriptions behind the image and was also found with an apparent lock of Guillain's hair.
On an exploratory mission of 1846-48, Guillain saw to the creation of some fifty daguerreotypes depicting Somali and other ethnic types on the north-east coast of Africa, daguerreotypes today housed in the Paris Musee de l'Homme. The plates were used in 1856 to create lithographs for the pictorial atlas that accompanied Guillain's narration of his voyage.
LL/69312
