This Day in History - January 24, 1848 - Gold Discovered in California - Our Daguerreotype of a Mining Scene*

*When I thought about posting a photograph to recognize the start of the California gold rush in 1848 I realized that I had posted the best image I could use in January of 2008. Now that I know how to bring an image to the front of my photostream I did so with this daguerreotype. I also made a new scan to replace the earlier one which was made from a slide. This one is closer to the color of the actual half plate daguerreotype.

This is a daguerreotype that should not have survived. It was bought for 25¢ in a roadside flea market as a bare, unprotected plate that had tarnished to solid black. Since the image on a daguerreotype surface is so fragile that it can be removed with a feather and the unprotected silver plate will tarnish to black if not protected from air this should have been a lost cause! The original purchaser was a friend who called us to ask how to clean it. We no longer clean daguerreotypes, but (like most collectors of the time) we did so in the 60s and 70s. We gave him instructions and within an hour got an excited call. "It's a mining scene!" Yea right. But it was! When he dispersed his collection we acquired it. It is in amazing condition considering the state in which it was found with only a few scrapes on the surface. It shows a cut away hillside with six men and the sluice of a hydraulic mine. We assume it is a California gold mine.

A detail showing the six men.

Taken on: January 6, 2008

Tags:

gold mine

daguerreotype

gold rush « less

Sets appears in: • This Day in History... • Daguerreotypes From Our Collection

Groups appears in: • 100 years old • Daguerreotypes more » • Vintage Occupational Photographs • Outside the Studio « less

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