Monkey on Branch

c. 1855

Monkey on Branch, c. 1855. Attributed to Louis Jules Duboscq-Soleil (French, 1817–1886). Stereo daguerreotype, sixth plate; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2021.53 A stereoscopic viewer was invented by David Brewster in 1849, but he could not get British manufacturers interested, so took it to Paris in 1850. There, he showed it to Louis Jules Duboscq-Soleil, who not only manufactured it but also began making his own stereoscopic daguerreotypes including this one. Along with natural history specimens, Duboscq-Soleil also photographed painted portraits and sculptures. Among the avid fans of the stereoscopic daguerreotypes of Louis Jules Duboscq-Soleil was Queen Victoria of Great Britain.