Quarter Plate

HOLDING ON! If the father of those adorable and rather frightened lads wasn?t responsible for this brilliantly composed and archivally sealed quarter plate, it must have been a close relative or friend who visited the lady?s house with his camera to make the exposure. As you can plainly see, the surface of the double-silvered plate, that didn?t have a hallmark, was definitely not perfectly polished. The wavy lines above the boy?s head are part of the patina and not a fingerprint! I wonder why he held that shiny brass key? Maybe it was a familiar plaything? His brother was given a piece of white card stock with printing on the surface to hold. A curious object to give him! He appeared to have been so shy and uncertain of the procedure that I am surprised he didn?t drop it on the floor. In the second small reproduction that I have included with the threesome, I laterally corrected the card and rotated it 180 degrees in an effort to read the words. Even using a loupe I couldn?t decipher the printing unfortunately. Although mom?s kids clutched at her while the lens was uncapped she, who was so adroitly arranged, kept still and directed her gaze past the position of the plane of the plate. The illumination was magnificent especially on mom. Her face was beautifully sculpted and that delightful dress presented every detail including her waspish waist! Blue tinting was applied to the tablecloth. The original brittle paper seals were so loose that the plate moved vertically during the 170 ?life? of the likeness. The plain brass protector had never been peeled back until the restoration was done. The upper left corner of the leather case sustained an indentation when the package was dropped. The two rails are slightly apart there. The cover is gone as is the bottom paper underneath the family. When the image is admired in strong light, the trio sparkles!