Sixth Plate

SSS! How about this lad’s name that was penned on a slip of blue lined paper: “Seymour Strong Smith”! With this additional information: ” son J. Mellon & Electa P. (unreadable) my father – Adile” Was that the widest daguerreian belt you have ever seen used to insure that Seymour would remain seated for his resealed sixth sized portrait? The daguerreotypist wanted to make certain that we all examined it when he added gold paint to that huge buckle and also the boy’s metallic buttons. The silver was expertly polished! A. J. Beals, the cameraman, attained holographic depth for the ages! Superb contrast was also achieved. Yet the brilliance of the piece, in my humble opinion, will only become apparent to the next collector, when the separated cover of a leather case is lifted from the dag that was produced at 156 Broadway in New York City. Divine brightness bathed the boy so splendidly that another dimension was created on his mirror. Multiple hues of patina encroach upon the lad from the four compass points. Teeny specks and a couple mat scrapes aren’t bothersome. The thin white lines on master Smith’s tunic are mold marks, nearly invisible without examining them with a loupe.