Quarter Plate

“PLUMBE MANUFACTURER NY”. That was the information embossed on the cover of a leather case that contained the austere lass who was dressed in black when her quarter plate daguerreotype was taken circa 1846. Adhered to the reverse of the case that is kept together with a leather hinge, I have scanned and included information written on medical tape. Unfortunately most of the words are obscured. The subject sat on a small wooden chair and leaned on her arm that rested on top of a table covered with a cloth. Her wedding band was daubed with gold and the unidentified operator also professionally painted her face with pale flesh colored pigments. It is possible that the woman was taken in one of John Plumbe?s galleries. Stylistically and quality wise, this is the type of sensational contrast and tonality plus holographic depth I would expect to have seen produced by a Plumbe cameraman! Was that a small white handkerchief at the top of her beaded purse? Placed there in case during the moment of truth when the lens was uncapped the woman became tearful as she thought about a sad occasion that brought her to the studio. I would suggest that she was in mourning at the time she was daguerreotyped. There are mat scrapes along the bottom and on the left side, mostly masked by dark blue oxidation. The retaped piece has small black dots in the drop and meaningless white specks elsewhere.