Sixth Plate

TIMELESS PORTRAYAL. I know I have used the phrase perfection personified previously. How could a sixth plate daguerreotype taken at the end of the 1840s have aged any better? Only the faintest specks are apparent. What about that diminutive subject? I know that she wasn’t smiling but her placement on the beautifully polished silver mirror and her own comportment couldn’t have been better. Her off the shoulder dress was very nice with only one wrinkle out of place. Aw sucks. The child inside the fine brass mat wasn’t flawless after all. At one angle of appreciation her skin tones seem uncolored. The magic begins as the piece is slowly angled away from the viewer?s eyes. Green and red tints were both splashed on the tablecloth and some of the pigments migrated across the little misses? dress. The red silk pad inside the complete leather case was lightly stained over the years.