Quarter Plate

COME ON! That baby was definitely napping and not deceased during the exposure for the family’s sealed horizontal quarter plate. In fact, mom was very pleased to have the child resting, since she would have been challenged to keep the babe still had he/she been awake. The couple’s older daughter sat complacently on the far left of the rather stiff composition. WHY didn’t that equally proud father simply reach around his tiny offspring and bring her closer to him? One item the daguerreotypist did have success at was his technical presentation along with excellent illumination on the group. There are mat marks in various locations. That dark line on the man’s forehead was made during the buffing. The vertical mark touching the girl’s head and another to the right of her smiling mother also appear to have been done while the surface was in preparation to receive the holographic image. Hazy blue patina is obvious. The cover of their leather case has disappeared.