I SAY HOLMES . . . Could I be taken in a profile for my sweetheart, on one of those smaller sized plates? Certainly Mr. W! The illustrious chap turned thusly, focused his eyes on the adjoining wall and smiled while complacently thinking of the lass he would soon merry. While I really don?t know who the gent was, Silas Holmes DID operate a gallery at 289 Broadway in New York City. That was the information impressed on the oval brass mat in the lower right corner. The ninth plate was retaped and the surface has never been altered since the fellow was taken in the early 1850s. The line touching the subject?s shoulder doesn?t seen to be a recent scratch and was possibly a flaw in the silver. The cover of his leather case is gone.