Sixth Plate

NOT FLOWERS! Those strange painted dots of pigments placed on the items resting on the book immediately drew my attention to that area of this retaped sixth plate, after I made a cursory study of the woman. I realized that the objects hadn’t been recently plucked from a floral garden! Then I wondered if the shapes might have been tubes of paints. Two different collectors who saw the likeness suggested that those items might have been bon bon treats. The unknown artist added gold to the subject?s brooch and on the book?s spine. He or she also splashed red tinting on the gal?s white collar. The subject wore her hair short and combed up in the front. That darker pigment spot on her cheek might have been a birthmark. The daguerreotype is held in a wonderful leather book style case with a broad brass hinge and latch. The three exposed wooden rails were colored gold and the spine was embossed with gold letters, SOUVENIR and an arabesque design. The same word was on a small silver plaque in the center of the brown leather cover. The clarity of the dag and strong holographic depth are both positives! Those are not two tiny scratches at the top, but rather breaks in the patina. If you like enigmas, maybe this piece is for your collection.