Christie's is hosting a 200-lot auction of the Maillet Daguerreotype Collection from June 10 to 26, featuring rare 19th-century daguerreotypes. The collection includes early works by pioneers like Samuel Morse and John William Draper, as well as images of American monuments and everyday life, such as Henry Fitz Jr.'s Washington Monument and Platt Babbitt's Niagara Falls view. The auction highlights the dawn of photography in America, with many images being unique due to the daguerreotype's lack of negatives.
This sale matters because it offers a rare glimpse into the formative years of photography, a medium that revolutionized visual culture and art. The Maillet Collection, built since the 1960s, captures the breadth of mid-19th-century American life and innovation, from portraiture to landmark documentation. As one-of-a-kind artifacts, these daguerreotypes hold significant historical and artistic value, making the auction a key event for collectors and institutions interested in the origins of photography.