Quarter Plate

WE KNOW HER . . . Because written on a small white label bordered in red was ?Sarah H. Webster 1820-1904?. At the time Ms. Webster was taken, circa 1844, she was 24 years old. Casey carefully removed the sixth plate from underneath her hand cut paper mat that was almost quarter plate in size. He notated on the archival seal that the hallmark was ?SCOVILLS?, the plate was heavy, the corners evenly clipped and there was amber colored wax underneath a paper seal that completely covered the reverse. Sarah was seated on a wooden chair and posed classically with an arm resting on top of a table covered with floral fabric. She held a tome in her lap. Her highly skilled daguerreotypist suggested that Sarah angle her lovely dark eyes away from the lens. While the exposure was being made the young lass actually smiled. Her figure was perfectly lit by light that entered the room from above on the left side. During the aging process, patina has encroached upon the pretty subject. Mold spiders have also developed. All the marks and lines are part of the colorful oxidation. The next collector who purchases this masterwork, kept in a professionally repaired leather case that has a pebbled cover and plain reverse, must be told that my reproduction doesn?t come close to revealing the remarkably beauty and tonality of the dag. That label I mentioned was adhered to a stunning green silk pad placed opposite Sarah!