THREE CHUMS!

While we won’t ever know what the boys’ relationships actually were to each other, they gallantly posed with rapt attention paid to the daguerreotypist’s instructions while he manufactured their horizontal, archivally sealed quarter plate portrait. The lad in the middle of his pals rested one hand on a shoulder and wove his other arm around the fellow to his left. Like that friend, he looked directly into the lens while the third subject calmly gazed past the camera. Each of them was nicely attired and well groomed. Obviously, they weren’t pinched for cash when they posed for their likeness after 1850. The plate was resilvered and even though there is a light layer of oxidation over the entire surface, along with a few mold spiders and heavier patina closer to the thin brass mat backed by paper, this image still sparkles. In fact, when held in good light, the reflected depth is unsurpassed. Both contrast and tones are perfection on silver. Almost full-frontal illumination lit the threesome evenly. I will suggest that the large fanciful letters scrawled on the reverse are a fanciful “MB . . . .” which would represent Matthew Brady’s gallery. He was known to favor this style of mat and I have seen several examples from this period where the inside of the complete leather case contained a Royal Blue velvet pad. Most convincing though is the base of his column seen in many later images that the chap rested his hand upon. Old paper seals had secured the package. I doubt if the surface has ever been touched.