Sixth Plate

A 19TH CENTURY SENTIMENT . . . Was neatly printed in pencil beneath the teenager’s resealed sixth plate daguerreotype on the bottom paper of her separated leather case. ?If ever life should seem, To thee a toilsome way, And gladness cease to beam, Upon its clouded day, [And] like the weary dove, O?er shoreless Ocean driven, Raise thou thine eyes above, There is rest for thee in Heaven?. A butterfly design was steam pressed into the pad opposite the girl, whose jewelry sparkled with gold. She leaned against the slender rails of that wooden chair and placed one arm on top of two books. A shadow and dark patina are on the drop behind her elbow. The lacework of the subject?s under sleeves and collar was different. Faint brown spots and a few meaningless white dots are on the surface.