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National Portrait Gallery Buys Oldest Photo of US First Lady

The auction company said the photo was discovered when its sellers were cleaning out a basement after a relative had died. (Photo by Sotheby's)
The auction company said the photo was discovered when its sellers were cleaning out a basement after a relative had died. (Photo by Sotheby's)
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National Portrait Gallery Buys Oldest Photo of US First Lady

The auction company said the photo was discovered when its sellers were cleaning out a basement after a relative had died. (Photo by Sotheby's)
The auction company said the photo was discovered when its sellers were cleaning out a basement after a relative had died. (Photo by Sotheby's)

The Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery has purchased what is believed to be the earliest ever photo of a US first lady.

The daguerreotype - an image created through the first photographic process - shows former First Lady Dolley Madison, the wife of the fourth US president, James Madison, BBC reported.

The photograph, discovered recently, likely dates back to 1846, the museum said.

The Smithsonian Institution purchased the daguerreotype for $456,000 (£356,000) at a Sotheby's auction in June.

The portrait is "one of exceedingly few surviving photographs of the woman who has defined for two centuries what it means to be the First Lady of the United States of America", Sotheby's said in a statement.

 

 

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A Giant Panda Gives Birth to Cub in a Dutch Zoo

Giant male panda Xiao Liwu eats a meal of bamboo before being repatriated to China with his mother Bai Yun, bringing an end to a 23-year-long panda research program in San Diego, California, US, April 18, 2019. Picture taken April 18, 2019. (Reuters)
Giant male panda Xiao Liwu eats a meal of bamboo before being repatriated to China with his mother Bai Yun, bringing an end to a 23-year-long panda research program in San Diego, California, US, April 18, 2019. Picture taken April 18, 2019. (Reuters)
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A Giant Panda Gives Birth to Cub in a Dutch Zoo

Giant male panda Xiao Liwu eats a meal of bamboo before being repatriated to China with his mother Bai Yun, bringing an end to a 23-year-long panda research program in San Diego, California, US, April 18, 2019. Picture taken April 18, 2019. (Reuters)
Giant male panda Xiao Liwu eats a meal of bamboo before being repatriated to China with his mother Bai Yun, bringing an end to a 23-year-long panda research program in San Diego, California, US, April 18, 2019. Picture taken April 18, 2019. (Reuters)

A giant panda has given birth to a cub at a Dutch zoo, in a boost to the captive population of the vulnerable mammals.

Ouwehands Dierenpark announced Friday's birth on Monday, and released video of mom Wu Wen as she gave birth to her cub, whose gender has yet to be determined, The AP reported.

“Mother and her cub are in the maternity den and are doing well. Ouwehands Dierenpark is happy and proud that it can again contribute to the conservation of this endangered species in a natural way,” the zoo said in a statement.

The video shows Wu Wen in a bed of hay as a high-pitched squeal and a series of low growls signal the birth of the cub. The mother can then be seen carrying the cub in her mouth.

A second cub was born about an hour later but died shortly after the birth, the zoo said.

The surviving new cub is the second born at the central Dutch zoo. In 2020, a cub that was later named Fan Xing was born as a part what was once known as China’s “panda diplomacy” program. Fan Xing was sent to China last year, where she joined a breeding program that is helping preserve the species.

For decades, China gifted friendly nations with its national mascot. The country more recently has loaned pandas to zoos on commercial terms.