Quarter Plate

MILKING HER COW! This image is a quarter plate daguerreotype with new glass and an archival seal, done by me. The daguerreotypist was obviously an amateur attempting to record his daughter milking their cow. The dark stain on the right happened the day the plate was made, circa 1850. I have seen some of Casey?s modern day dag making efforts with that same effect. Before someone took apart the dag and cleaned it using an unknown method, the foreground was even more brightly tinted in yellow and green. Red was added to the darkened area. The cow?s horns remain red and golden. The daguerreian buffed the plate in both directions, probably because he was uncertain how a horizontal dag should have been done. It is difficult to ascertain if the scratches on the cow were created recently or the day the exposure was made. The fingerprint to the right of the little girl seems ancient. There are single dimples on the left and right near the oval mat opening. Those happened because the plate was clamped too tightly and the surface flexed when the silver was polished. Numerous mat scrapes couldn?t be hid any better. The mold spiders happened because of decaying original glass. The very worn leather case has an older leather repaired spine. Bare wood is evident in places on both covers. Since the period is correct, it might have been original to the portrait. Now that I have explained the deficiencies, let me say that I have not held such a magical instantaneous daguerreotype in my hands in forever. Needless to mention, the subjects and their composition were superlative!