Quarter Plate

THOSE WERE THE JEWELS! Mother decided it was time for she and her reticent little boy to have a resealed quarter plate daguerreotype taken. She would get him ready first and instruct her offspring how to act once they arrived at the studio. I am certain that she didn’t wear those sparkling baubles while they walked hand in hand along the street. Once in the confines of an operator’s salon, she probably opened that small box to remove the gems. While the lad wiggled when the lens was uncapped, the attractive woman sat erect and remained resolute. The marks seen on that lovely dress were brush strokes from applied pigments that sadly have mostly been washed away when someone cleaned the silver. Even the gold on her rings and the clasp of that Daguerreian hair bracelet she wore on her wrist has been diminished. Each one of her diamonds was delicately pricked. Although the case has two parts, somehow the wood was broken along the left side after a cloth spine was applied. The image compartment is intact. I really wish a portrait remained of the mom by herself. She was a striking lady!