Description

Important Whole Plate Daguerreotype of Governor Boutwell and his Council 

Whole plate daguerreotype featuring an impressively-composed group portrait of thirteen men, with Massachusetts Governor George Sewall Boutwell, elected in 1851, at center, gathered with other Massachusetts politicians or members of his council, ca 1852. Attributed to John Whipple, who was well known in Boston for successfully posing large groups together. Housed in period wall frame, 13 x 15 in. Illustrated in The American Daguerreotype, by Floyd and Marion Rinhart, p. 290.

George Sewall Boutwell (1818-1905) was a statesman who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President U.S. Grant, the 20th Governor of Massachusetts, a Senator and Representative from Massachusetts, and the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue under President Abraham Lincoln. Boutwell was no stranger to having daguerreotypes produced of his likeness. In addition to Whipple, Southworth and Hawes have been credited with creating daguerreotypes of the statesman.