Mathew Brady (1822-1896) is most remembered for chronicling the Civil War, but he began as a miniature-case manufacturer. He opened his first gallery in 1844 and soon expanded his business to Washington, D.C. in 1847. He opened a second studio in New York in 1854. His studio was the choice of celebrities and political figures including John Quincey Adams, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, that latter of whom portrait contributed to the success of his presidential campaign.

The work offered here captures a tender portrait of a husband and wife. Works from Brady’s studio are found in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.