Sixth Plate

TIME CAN BE CRUEL! “Collins Artist” is plainly visible in the lower right corner of the statuesque lady’s archivally restored sixth plate likeness. Doesn’t she resemble a painted miniature on Ivory in a formal studio portrait? The delicate tinting must have taken even a professional colorist an hour to finish the holographic jewel. I have narrowed my eyes somewhat while admiring the freckle faced woman’s painterly appearance while totally ignoring all those mold spiders from decayed glass and that area of white haze hovering above the table. There is even a water stain at the top center of her image. Those mat abrasions were created by another person who misaligned the dag by at least an eighth of an inch trying to reseal the plate. This superlative effort was made by either David or T.P. Collins. It is difficult to ascertain exactly where the dag was executed or who the operator was. Please visit John Craig’s marvelous website: http://www.daguerreotype.com/ for further information about their careers both in Philadelphia and western Massachusetts. A leather case with a repaired spine has an Angel motif on the cover and a geometric design on the reverse. In fairness to the attractive subject, when she is admired, many of the natural defects are diminished.