Quarter Plate

A CONTINUATION . . . Of the chap’s hair and beard kept going round and round when he posed for his recently retaped (by another person) quarter plate daguerreotype. There are some white specks on the holographic mirror but all those that are doubled were left on the underside of the new glass. When the portrait was produced, to achieve such outstanding contrast, the maker pushed the mercury temperature and created daguerreian frosting in the darkest regions of the man?s likeness. He certainly had watchful eyes and an extremely strong face. The lighting was exceptional and sculpted his features. The tones of the image are also quite remarkable. Only the bottom of a leather case remains. A slender oval thread of patina touches the edges of the brass mat. There is one blue spot that is obvious in the subject?s coarse mane.