Quarter Plate

HER DAUGHTER? An early conserved quarter sized masterpiece was placed in a leather case with a horizontal lyre motif on the cover and a plain reverse. Casey made a new leather hinge. Inside, an attractive lass held a flower in her hand while she posed whimsically resting one arm on the wooden chair she was seated upon. A nearby draped table contained two books that were partially covered by a white lily. I have another dag of an older woman that appears to have been taken on the same day in late 1843-1844. The spectacular illumination, the ruffled background, a white reflector off to the right, the furniture and those books were identical. Only a slight shift in the identical tablecloth and the subject were different. Inspired illumination bathed the youthful beauty in astounding brightness that shaped and revealed her face with painterly perfection. And her extra ordinary costume was also extremely well defined. The sharpness of the lens permitted any admirer of this gorgeous self-confident woman to see her and the clothes she selected with outstanding realism. Did she just smile and offer to hand me the rose she held? The contrast and depth, which was superbly holographic, simply can?t even be imagined until the next collector opens her case. There are mold spiders in places on the silvery mirror and a couple brown circles. I don?t know what the random mark was to the right of her head. There is also a latent stain on her cheek that flows away on a diagonal. A pair of buff strokes aren?t problematic. The precision of the plate preparation and the artistic rendering of the subject rarely were achieved with such a harmonious result so early in the era of daguerreotypes. The females posed differently, possibly at the suggestion made by the unknown operator. The girl simply flowed comfortably on the chair while the mature lady stretched across the furniture and looked dramatically away from the lens. The freckle faced lass wanted to engage any viewer who might have opened her case. The older female wasn?t interested in chatting or in fact, anyone?s opinion! She would have been a force in her family and wanted to make a statement! Her billowing pleated dress was shown almost in its entirety. Although the tones were slightly richer in her portrait, like the companion piece, the contrast and reflected depth were both sensational! The illumination lit her eyes. By leaving the ribbons untied the woman?s elegant neck was perfectly framed and that naturally led our examination upwards to her strong face. This case, also with a professionally applied spine, was decorated on both covers with with several rectangular lines and florets in each corner. A single large leaf was embossed in the red velvet cushion. Tarnish matches the shape of the gilded paper mat. Mold spiders are plentiful especially across the top. There is a faint wipe near the upper right corner in the patina. Two pits in the silver are in her costume and a teeny patch of exfoliation is below the tablecloth.