1. Daguerreobase
Europeana Project Group Assembly
September 25-26, 2013
Den Hague

2. Best Practice Network
• CIP 297250
• 1 Nov 2012 - April 2015 (30 months)
• Three reporting periods (10, 20, 30)
• First technical review: October 8, 2013,
Paris.

3. Short history
• NFM
– 2004: filemaker database
– 2009: online application with information on
daguerreotypes
• FoMu
– Daguerreotype restoration project funded by
the Flemish government (2007-2009)

4. • Online database (2009)

5. What is a daguerreotype?
• The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic
process (1839-1860) in the history of photography. Named after the
inventor, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, each daguerreotype is a
unique image on a silvered copper plate. In contrast to photographic
paper, a daguerreotype is not flexible and is rather heavy.
• The daguerreotype is accurate, detailed and sharp. It has a mirror-like
surface and is very fragile. Since the metal plate is extremely
vulnerable, most daguerreotypes are presented in a special housing.
Different types of housings existed: a cassette, a folding case, jewelry, …

6. Portrait Jozefina Nelsen (1853-1865)
Picture André F.J. Dupont – Letterenhuis Antwerpen
Illustration T. Pritchard
© FoMu

7. Importance
• Numerous portrait studio’s opened their doors from the 1840ies
onward. Daguerreotypes were very expensive, so only the wealthy
could afford to have their portrait taken. Even though the portrait was
the most popular subject, the daguerreotype was used to record many
other images such as topographic and documentary subjects,
antiquities, still lives, natural phenomena and remarkable events.
• European daguerreotypes are scarce. They are scattered in institutional
and private collections all over the world. Many aspects of the
daguerreotype still need to be discovered. They can help us to
understand the impact of photography on Europe’s social and cultural
history.

8. Example of a European
cassette/package
J.G. Eynard-Lullin (ca. 1842-1863)
Example of an Anglo-American
daguerreotype (folding case)
Unknown photographer (ca. 1840-1865)
©FoMu
© FoMu

9. Convent of Beaumont Le Roger
en Haute-Normandie, France
Unknown photographer
(ca. 1840 – 1855)
Unidentified portrait
Unknown Photographer
(ca. 1840-1855)
© FoMu © FoMu

10. FoMu collection
Detail of the façade of the Duomo di
Siena
Unknown photographer
(ca. 1840 – 1855)
© FoMu© FoMu
Unidentified couple
Unknown Photographer
(ca. 1855)

11. •Silver Hallmarks
©FoMu

12. General objectives
• To aggregate high quality images and descriptions of mainly European
type daguerreotypes and daguerreotype related objects;
• To enable access to at least 75% of the still existing highly significant
but scattered institutional and private daguerreotype collections in
Europe via Europeana;
• To enhance the quality of both new and existing Europeana content, in
terms of its metadata richness, its re-use potential and its uniqueness;
• To enable improved search, retrieval and use of Europeana content,
both within the Europeana portal and by third parties via the
Europeana API.

13. Outcomes (1)
• A standard for the description and the preservation of the
daguerreotype objects.
• A standard for the high quality digitization of daguerreotype objects
(workflow, digitization parameters, documentation of the digitization).
• A multilingual set of thesauri or entries lists for the description of
daguerreotype object.
• A renewed version of the existing Daguerreobase Portal
(www.daguerreobase.org)
• A metadata aggregator for historical and contemporary daguerreotypes
that interoperates with Europeana and is complementary to
Europeana.

14. Outcomes (2)
• Improved quality of the content, the metadata and the service delivery
• Software tools for aggregation of daguerreotypes and daguerreotype related
objects
• Engagement of the photography and heritage community.
This aspect will also be realized by the founding of The European
Daguerreotype Association (EDA). All the content providers of the
Daguerreobase Consortium will become a member of this organization.
• A business model for the management and maintenance of Daguerreobase
when the project ends.
• A Europeana virtual exhibition of European daguerreotype masterpieces to
celebrate the 175th birthday of photography

15. Total number of content
– 25566 Daguerreotype descriptions
– 6945 Pages from documents, letters and manuals
– 23 Equipment or tools

16. Participant
number
Short
name Participant Name Country
1 FoMu FotoMuseum Provincie Antwerpen Belgium
2 NFM Stichting Nederlands Fotomuseum Netherlands
3 ARCP Ville de Paris France
4 MLK Stadt Koln Germany
5 TSD Landeshauptstadt Dresden Germany
6 CNA Ministère de la Culture Luxembourg
7 IPR Institut fur Papierrestaurierung Schloss Schonbrunn Mag. Markus Klaszund Mitgesellschafter IPR Austria
8 FMP Finnish Museum of Photography SVM FMP Finland
9 NB Nasjonalbiblioteket Norway
10 UiB Universitet i Bergen Norway
11 PIM Picturae bv Netherlands
12 eDAVID Expertisecentrum DAVID Belgium
13 MOCED Ortelee Marinus JAN*M J Ortelee – Fotojournalist MOCED Netherlands
14 SMP S.M.P. Di Petrillo Sandra Maria*SMP Conservazione e Restauro di Fotografie Italy
15 MCS Museum Conservation Services LTD United Kingdom
16 NTM Narodni Technicke Muzeum Czech Republic
17 UPV Universitat Politecnica de Valencia Spain
18 KBDK Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Nationalbibliotek og Kobenhavns Universitetsbibliotek Denmark

17. Work packages
• WP 1 - Project Management
• WP 2 - Awareness, dissemination and networking
activities
• WP 3 - Best practice and standards description
• WP 4 - Renewed Daguerreobase and service delivery
• WP 5 - Content aggregation and aligning with Europeana
• WP 6 - Project performance and evaluation
• WP 7 - Long-term sustainability and IPR issues

18. Daguerreobase: join us!
• Daguerreobase is still looking for daguerreotypes. We invite you
to share your treasures in a secured digital environment.
• Everyone can benefit from this cooperation:
• Museums and private-collectors can show their daguerreotype
collection to a wider public
• You can search with a multilingual tool through Europe’s finest
daguerreotypes
• The main body of still existing European daguerreotypes will be
assembled in one user-friendly database
• You can exchange information and raise your level of knowledge

19. www.daguerreobase.org
Belgium
FotoMuseum Provincie
Antwerpen
Waalse Kaai 47
2000 Antwerpen
Belgium
Tel.: +32 (0)3 242.93.27
Sabine.Cauberghs@fomu.be
Netherlands
Nederlands Fotomuseum in Las
Palmas
Wilhelminakade 332
3072 AR Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)10/203.04.08
hmaes@nederlandsfotomuseum.nl

20. • This project is partially funded under the ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT
PSP) as part of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme
by the European Community.
• This document reflects only the author’s views. The European Community is
not liable for any use that might be made of the information contained
therein.
THANK YOU