Portraits of a Russian (?) Officer. 1850s. Quarter-plate (circa 10,5 x 8 cm) daguerreotype, with ornamental paper surround, taped behind glass, in cased stand-up frame (traces of use) with photographer's paper label J. Weninger. Atelier Morskoi grande maison Person, No 37. on frame verso.
The Viennese portrait painter and chemist Joseph Weninger is first mentioned as a travelling daguerreotypist in and around Vienna circa 1840. He moved to Leipzig in 1840 where he was the first daguerreotypist in that city. In 1842 Weninger went on to Prague and Copenhagen, in 1843 to Stockholm and then in the same year to St. Petersburg where he opened a studio together with his brother Heinrich. Here he specialized in large-format daguerreotypes. - Light oxidation around edges and several small spots on cover glass and on plate, otherwise in good condition.