Daguerreotype Jewelry in West Chester!

I was excited to find this advertisement for H. B. Freeman’s daguerreotype gallery in addition to his jewelry and watch business. I think it is likely that he set daguerreotype portraits into lockets that he sold in his store. A worthwhile product to introduce to the county seat.

The sentimental Victorian public was eager to have portraits of loved ones as part of their adornment. Before the advent of the daguerreotype, portrait miniatures were used for this purpose. Daguerreotypes were set in ladies’ brooches, bracelets, rings and lockets. Some bracelets were even woven of hair with the daguerreotype set in the clasp. Men had daguerreotypes displayed in watch fobs and heads of canes.

Daguerrean jewelry could be used as love tokens. They were treasured by couples who were temporarily separated when husbands left for war or business travel. More commonly they were used as mourning jewelry, usually including the lock of the deceased loved one’s hair. The culture of mourning was carefully followed, so a memorial locket was a necessary part of it, if you could afford it.

However, one part of the population was not interested in Daguerrean jewelry. Quakers shunned vanity and would not be a customer for this type of ostentatious adornment. However, the Quaker was an eager customer for the daguerreotype. Why? Because unlike portrait painting, the photographic image presented them truly as they were, without the artist’s enhancement. The daguerreotype was acceptable because it was looked upon as a scientific, not an artistic medium in that day.

So it seems that Freeman could certainly please everyone in his daguerreotype gallery back in 1849. I have never seen an example of his work, so please let me know if you have one. You can read about him here.