Quarter Plate

WAS IT POSSIBLE . . . that the gent on the right was the camera operator standing with his arm behind his daguerreian apprentice, when they posed for this archivally sealed quarter plate daguerreotype? The filthy discoloration on the front of the younger fellow?s striped apron could have been an accumulation of rouge and other substances that were airborne during the buffing part of preparing plates for the daguerreotypist. This studio was equipped with a skylight as the main source for illumination. Who knows just how brilliant this silvery mirror was once before an unknown moron decided to brutally clean and horribly scratch the surface. Aw . . . what once was has at least been saved from further damage. Casey has made a new leather hinge on the case, which is now complete. The remarkable artifact still sparkles at certain viewing angles. I have one more question. Was the chap on the left pointing to himself indicating that he was the important cog in the operation, or did his finger just happen to lay that way when the lens was uncapped?