[Multiple Exposures of the Moon]

John Jabez Edwin Mayall|Antoine-François-Jean Claudet

1846–52 · Daguerreotype · Photographs

Eighteen tiny yet detailed impressions of the moon, captured by means of multiple exposure, dot the metal surface of this recently discovered daguerreotype. It was likely made in England by the Frenchman Antoine-François-Jean Claudet. One of the first studio daguerreotypists in London, Claudet experimented with recording ephemeral natural phenomena, including electricity, clouds captured instantaneously, and the sun viewed through fog. The plate is housed in a case bearing the 1846-52 London studio address of John Jabez Edwin Mayall, who worked as an assistant to Claudet in 1846. Claudet’s well-documented scientific experiments with photography—he exhibited a lunar daguerreotype at the 1851 Great Exhibition—make him the more likely author of this image.

Artist

John Jabez Edwin Mayall|Antoine-François-Jean Claudet

Date

1846–52

Medium

Daguerreotype

Department

Photographs

Credit line

The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2019