Ann Shumard, curator of photographs at NPG, discusses a piece of daguerreian jewelry containing a portrait Samuel Morse. When a scarcity of commissions led Samuel Morse to reconsider his career as an artist, he turned from painting to pursue his earlier interest in inventing. In 1832, he conceived a plan for an electromagnetic recording telegraph and dedicated his energies to developing a working model for his invention. When Morse applied for a patent in 1840, he had succeeded in devising a relay system for transmitting messages over long distances and had created the practical transmission code that bears his name. This button-sized piece of daguerreian jewelry, featuring a portrait of Samuel Morse, was created around 1845 by artist Jonas M. Edwards. The piece is on display at the National Portrait Gallery, in the exhibition "Tokens of Affection and Regard: Photographic Jewelry and Its Makers" on the first floor. See the online exhibition at: http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/jewels . Recorded at NPG, April 9, 2009. Image info: Samuel F. B. Morse / Jonas M. Edwards, c. 1845 / Daguerreotype / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution