Sixth Plate

EXTRAORDINARY!!! This monumental portrait, resealed and quickly cleaned (to remove encroaching patina on the gent?s hat and face) is kept in a sixth plate Halverson metallic case. Please see the second scan. I included it since only the bottom of a leather case, which might not have been original, came with the image. Both sides have identical embossed red leather treatment. Inside there is a brilliant blue cushion and underneath the image boldly penned on the bottom paper was ?4.00?. That is the most I have ever seen asked for this size of case. The actual production of the case began after the subject was so wonderfully placed on his holographic palette in the early 1850s. As you all view the magnificent daguerreotype you will quickly agree that he deserved the best case I had. The man had absolutely soulful eyes and a very determined expression. His maker positioned this patron of the art of fine daguerreotypy below his skylight and lowered the angle of the camera which gave the person great prominence. Since his heavy wool jacket was tightly gathered across his torso and that fur hat covered the crown of his noble head, I suspect the fellow was taken in the winter months in a chilled studio. With such a florid handsome face framed by an unruly growth of hair and that massive beard, one could assume that this explorer was accustom to rugged outdoors conditions. Of course, I really would like to know who he might have been in the annuals of history. Unfortunately, there was no inscription to provide clues to his identity. There still is thin oxidation inside the oval mat. I mention in passing that there is a dimple on his left shoulder and one slightly above, done when the operator crimped the plate too tight in his vise during the buffing process. Need I say that this subject is beyond awesome and that his silvery mirror sparkles with a brilliance rarely seen in the finest daguerreotypes?