D08-36. NOT THE FIRST ENIGMA! An old lady was seated in front of a very unusual backdrop while an itinerant artist executed her archivally taped sixth plate. Don't you love holding a dag that wants to tell you the lessons of (its) life (well maybe not what I wanted to actually learn from THIS woman) and then become somewhat befuddled? Here is what I know. This plate was made about 1850 and copied the earlier portrait. It is a sixth plate with four sides bent UP. The plate was also resilvered and it had a remarkable sheen on the surface. Someone recently cleaned it. The hallmark is Star Double 40 (clipped). The case, mat and protector all were popular about that date. Here is what I suspect. Because we can see two distinct sides of a gold gilded rectangular paper mat or a heavy brass mat (I can't be certain, but I am leaning towards the former) framing the woman (top and left) and noting that the illumination was rather primitive, along with an initial overall softness I would place a date of 1843 on the original. The painted backdrops seem European and totally incongruous with mountains or a roiling ocean on the left and an Italian style building on the right. Her cape decoration is very unusual and might provide a clue that would indicate the source of the subject. I have reframed her portrait with a double elliptical brass mat also from the correct time the copy was taken. It opened up the surface and allows more of the piece to be examined. Most of the white specks have teeny green centers where the copper has pierced the silver layer. $215