Smithsonian Buys Oldest Photo Ever Of A First Lady

Photo: Sotheby

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – The Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery has purchased what is believed to be the earliest ever photo of a US First Lady and is of First Lady Dolley Madison, the wife of the fourth US president, James Madison.

The photograph, discovered recently, likely dates to 1846, the museum said in a statement. The oldest photograph of a US President is an 1843 daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams.

The Smithsonian Institution acquired the Madison daguerreotype for $456,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in June. The auctioneer said the photo was discovered when its sellers were cleaning out a basement after a relative had died.

The photograph – a quarter-plate-sized daguerreotype – was taken by John Plumbe Jr when Dolley Madison was in her late 70s, most likely in 1846, the Smithsonian said. The photograph joins the National Portrait Gallery’s collection of 230 portraits of first ladies.

James Madison – known as the father of the US constitution – served as president from 1809 to 1817 and his wife was known to be the center of Washington society.

Plumbe was an English entrepreneur who later became a photographer. He also created the earliest known photos of the US Capitol.