Dennis Waters, Fine Daguerreotypes

Salon Archive

CAW-492	DON'T BLAME HIM! How would YOU have felt at four or five years old if your parents mentioned that they were taking you to a nice man's studio to have your daguerreotype taken and oh yes, please bring your puppy with you? Upon entering...
CAW-494	THE OPEN BOOK. Surely there must have been some significance in this setting that shares with us two lovely lasses expertly posed while their resealed quarter plate likeness was taken. It was common in the mid-19th century for women to...
CAW-495	A LITTLE BIT OF SOUL! Okay, I know you knew that was going to be the lead in after you studied the wonderful shoemaker plying his trade while a sixth plate portrait with a new seal was made. I believe that the daguerreian visited the...
CAW-515	LET'S COUNT THEM! Or maybe I will let the next owner of this exemplary archivally sealed quarter plate do it as they are admiring an awesome group of guys all about the same age. The gathering was taken outdoors with light overcast in...
CAW-516	RESOLUTE! The young hunter proud and true returned from the marshes with a brace of mallard ducks. His father was so proud of his son that he suggested they visit the local daguerreotypist to commemorate his accomplishment. Holding his...
CAW-519	I HAD NEVER SEEN . . . this bright blue label glued to the silk pad inside a complete leather case circa 1846-47 before Casey purchased the elderly man firmly holding his cane while Wayne A. Goodell proceeded to take his sixth plate...
CAW-520	NATURALLY CURLY. Casey had already worked his magic, a quick recleaning of the silver before making a new archival seal, on this outstanding sixth plate. The focus and holographic depth are both superlative, along with excellent...
CAW-527	ACCIDENTS . . . In daguerreotypy sometimes produce fantastic results that could not have possibly been foreseen by the camera operator, even when he was creating timeless retaped ninth plate portraits. The adorable child with such...
CAW-531	THERE IS NO MISTAKING . . . a perfect profile pose in a retaped sixth plate daguerreotype. Stephen Hubbard thrust one hand in his buttoned jacket while he stared resolutely at a wall 90 degrees left from the front element of the lens that...
CAW-532	IN THE ALLEY! The gent handling this magnificent animal knew exactly how to manage his grip to insure that the archivally taped half plate daguerreotype would present to us such a powerful and impressive view. The horse was relative...
CAW-533	VARIED THINKING! Usually Casey and I agree on restoration challenges. The sixth plate of the young couple still is covered with a fine piece of domed glass that aids in creating awesome holographic reflections of them. The old seals...
D-180	IN A DOORWAY. A stunning resealed quarter plate early dag of two frightened brothers standing and holding hands. Looking past the remarkable intrusive tarnish as I examined the primitive portrait I realized that the wrinkled cloth behind...
D-190	"NATIONAL . . . Miniature Gallery 247 Broadway N.Y." was embossed around a boldly imprinted American Eagle emblazoned with a Patriotic Shield on its breast clutching several spears in sharpened talons. A partnership of Edward Anthony,...
D00-89	BARE FOOT BABE. For the sake of settling an argument before it begins, I don't know the sex of the sixth plate child, who was placed in a small chair that has been covered with a bolt of loose fabric. Both the baby and the furniture...
D01-128	GEORGE VALENTINE RAND. Don't you just adore his middle name? Mr. Rand, whose blue tinted eyes are rather odd, to go along with his overall goofy appearance, was purchased with a wealth of family information (see scan below) that is...
D01-16	HUNTER WITH HIS DOG. The woodsman, attired in his Sunday best, wandered into an itinerant's studio. Maybe he made the appointment before arriving, but I would like to think that he picked up his favorite shotgun, called his best dog...
D01-192	WHO WAS HE? I am offering a fabulous very early sixth plate portrait of a non-Caucasian young man, who was seated in front of a white column while resting his arm on a nearly invisible tabletop. Behind him on the entire right side is a...
D01-48	PAINTED BONNET FLOWERS. Yikes you must be thinking. Why couldn't the middle-aged woman simply have pulled the veil over her face? Because it would have diminished the beauty of the bright bouquet on either side of her head! Okay, she...
D01-86	THE WOMAN WAS A LADY . . . And she knew exactly what she desired in her archivally sealed sixth plate. What was running through the operator's mind when this gorgeous person walked into his large studio to first inquire and then hire him...
D02-92	SO PLEASANT. No doubt about this pair of pretty women. They were dear sisters and were quite accustom to wealth and power. (The previous owner mentions on his archival seal that a piece of paper had "Jay family" written on it. It has...
D03-137	AMPLE FIGURE. The sixth plate presents a dark eyed beauty that knew her way to the dinner table. No one had to persuade the poser to chow down. If only she would have allowed her tightly pulled back hair to flow loosely downwards, while...
D05-116	A PROFESSIONAL PALETTE! Think of the greatest single word you might use to describe the gent's hand tinted "canvas" multiply that thought by 10 and then you might be in the correct visual arena for viewing the man's psychedelic sunbeam. ...
D05-197	SHEETS OF MELODY. If you turn their quarter plate to a negative angle, musical notes are seen on the folded paper that the young gal on the left is grasping. Her companion's pieces are more difficult to read. Could they have been...
D05-35	A BIG BREATH! Two gold rings were colored on the fellow's thick fingers and some red rouge was daubed on his super puffed cheeks after the sitter sat for his unusual resealed sixth plate likeness. Have you EVER seen anyone holding his...
D06-100	A LADY. Her delicately picked brooch, with a ruby red center, radiates like a shining star, nestled there at the crossing of her lace ribbons. The woman had a sturdy frame that was emphasized underneath her simple but elegant dress. She...
D06-11	DID HE KNOW? A fellow wearing his tall satin top hat tilted slightly sideways sat still while an operator executed his resealed sixth plate. I wonder if the subject realized that his vest was gapping? His pose was definitely stilted...
D06-112	TEENS TOGETHER. Superlative composition just didn't happen in marvelous archivally sealed quarter plate dags. Someone in this unknown studio had studied forms and balance, using diagonals in the equation to produce an amazing likeness....
D06-118	THE FLIPPED CURL. Dynamic and dynamite best describe the fashion statement and overall quality of this sensational resealed sixth plate. Every aspect of the youthful gal's clothing is a lesson in haute couture. The unknown...
D06-183	PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL. The intact black leather case with a familiar floral theme on the cover and a plain reverse, the understated elegant paper mat, the large size (an archivally taped half plate) and the skillfully structured pyramidal...
D06-47	HAND CLAMP! When a small child refused to remain still using a traditional iron head restraint, a parent was enlisted by the daguerreian to grab the kid's head. This lively tyke even defeated that effort and a hand is very visible...
D06-62	C. H. STOKES IN TRENTON . . . took the plump woman's resealed sixth plate with aplomb! Stokes directed his client to sit on an invisible chair and place one thick arm on his blue tinted tablecloth. She kept her gloves on her heavy hands...
D06-72	"1856 MAY". Too bad the author of that information (penned on a sliver of paper glued to the pad on the leather case cover, which is apart) didn't include the name of the adorable little girl who bounced around while she was seated in a...
D07-118	HOLD YOUR THUMB . . . over mother while admiring the tiny cherub who wore a brightly tinted red necklace while their exceptional resealed sixth sized portrait was executed by an accomplished daguerreian and you just might be favorably...
D07-120	WHO WAS SHE? And what medium was originally used by the artist, Emile Lassalle, a lithographer and painter of genre scenes? He was born 1813 in Bordeaux France and died in Paris 1871. (I have made a close up scan of his signature and...
D07-121	A SMALL MODERN . . . White label with "Isaac Haight" printed in ink was adhered to the original glass covering the awesome archivally sealed sixth plate (with a new piece of glass and the label saved in a permanent sleeve). Whether or not...
D07-143	SLICKED DOWN! Blue eyes intensely peered just beyond the angle of the lens while a very serious man had his excellent archivally taped sixth plate executed! His strength pours forth in every direction when the remainder of his leather...
D07-157	A FRIENDLY SHADOW. The title certainly doesn't describe the hardened to steel toughness of the gentleman who sat outwardly placid while coiled tightly inside waiting to spring from the small chair and get on with his day's labor. There...
D07-162	HETTIE COLLINS. Not on my best scanning day could I possibly replicate the delicate creaminess of the lovely lady's neatly sealed sixth plate gem. Ms. Collins sat in a classic daguerreian pose and was given a small dag case to hold...
D07-166	THEIR FACES . . . Were filled with contemplation as they posed for their archivally taped sixth plate portrait. The young mother sat comfortably on a small wooden chair and her daughter stood beside her, holding a small book. The maker...
D07-180	LYING BACK RELAXED. Charlie Ames was written on a piece of the original paper seal, which I saved and placed underneath his resealed sixth plate portrait. Isn't he a lovely teenager? The operator hit a home run when he posed Charlie. ...
D07-196	WHOSE HANDS? Those fingers were twisted in angst as the children's parent watched in abject horror while two offspring moved during the exposure for their sixth plate daguerreotype. Someone once noted that every picture tells a story. ...
D07-203	IN THE SPOTLIGHT! Surreal illumination bathed the babe in pink who held a small metallic pail while seated on the top of a table draped with a floral patterned cloth that was tinted red upon completion of the freshly sealed sixth plate gem....
D07-218	CASUAL! The very attractive young lady was placed inside a pristine plain blue ninth plate size plush velvet oval case with an unmarked white silk liner to her left. The vignetted patron was expertly captured on a brilliantly prepared re-s...
D07-29	A GRANDSON? My hat's off to the elderly couple if that cute little boy was actually their son. The stern faced woman had one hand holding the back of his tunic and used her other hand to keep the lad's under control. He held his chin...
D07-30	GOOD HEALTH. Her chubby grandchild did his best to fidget while their sixth plate dag was taken, but granny was more than capable off keeping him calm just long enough while the maker used his skills to the best advantages. Their retaped...
D07-4	"MISS ELLEN . . . Selina Bacon mother of John Lewis Fisk taken probably about 1850" was all written on a scrap of paper that is included with the complete leather case. Inside, an ornately embossed plush red velvet pad (that I have never...
D07-45	I WANT TO KNOW MORE . . . about their phenomenal primitive work of art on a brilliantly polished sixth plate surface of silver. The older brothers are the central theme in their broad pyramidal composition but it is the nearly disembodied...
D07-66	LATER IN LIFE . . . the precocious child with an attitude could brag to all who had seen his magnificent primitive sixth plate gem, "I didn't move a lick although Buster bobbed his head. 'Course I yanked on that silly ribbon just before...
D08-11	A POT KNOCKER! Here is a most elegant early sixth sized dag showing a handsome gent taken from a low angle leaning on a small iron or brass pot that has been placed on top of a green/blue tinted tablecloth. Amazing side lighting from...
D08-170	HIS WERE DROOPING! I always wonder which came first, the recalcitrant child whose hands just wouldn't remain motionless while he reluctantly posed for his archivally sealed sixth plate or those sad sack posies handed to him by a desperate...
D08-190	"COLLINS . . . ARTIST, WESTFIELD" was printed in gold on that black label attached to the double elliptical brass mat in the right corner of the couple's fine resealed quarter plate. At the end of the 1840s into the beginning of the 50s...
D08-203	IN THE NAVY. According to an expert in the field, who asked to remain anonymous, the serious young man was a, U.S. Navy Lieutenant taken prior to the1845 regulation (which was implemented in 1846) that Lieutenants wear an epaulette on...
D08-22	THAT WAS . . . How his subject sat on an invisible chair (or else he was keen at elevating) and the maker thought, "Well why not?" Starting at the fellow's prominent knee we see his clasped hands, a white shirt front flanked on all sides...
D08-28	I WAS STUNNED... when a friend walked into the studio years ago (after the catalogue deadline for the 14th issue of THE DAGUERREIAN FORUM) with 20 images that he bought over the weekend. As we examined each one he clutched a ninth plate,...
D08-46	"Wm. C. NORTH . . . Cleveland" was stamped in the corner of a plain quarter plate size scalloped brass mat and was placed on the retaped image of the older couple. The obvious hot spot on the gent's head was caused when North's...
D08-47	EXCELLENCE ON SILVER. Surely the life long partners recorded in their resealed quarter size masterpiece couldn't have expected such brilliance from their maker upon initially entering his domain, correct? They might have been shown a...
D08-55	WHEN HE SPOKE . . . Moses came down from the mountaintop! The hallmark on the preacher's medium weight sixth plate with flat sides and clipped corners is L.B.B. & Ce 40 (circa 1842-44). Ê The wide opening brass mat was rarely used after...
D08-56	A LESSON LEARNED! An eager young gentleman sat watching his snowy maned mentor while he rested an open book on his knee. The men both touched the tome that certainly played a part in their relationship. The daguerreotypist was aware of...
D08-65	CARESSED BY FOG! Now THAT would have been an even more remarkable triumph on silver if the atmospheric conditions created a softly flowing hazy cloud in the studio, while the daguerreotypist manipulated his illumination from directly...
D08-81	CURLY TOP! The instant I saw the dark haired child, even looking at her sixth plate countenance underneath highly corroded glass, I liked her brashness and boldly patterned dress! Once Casey performed his restorative magical touch . . ....
D08-88	SOFT . . . As new fallen snow is the best way to describe her creamy quarter plate dream. Delicate layers of that light colored ensemble and the intricate bonnet flow harmoniously across the surface of her shimmering likeness. I think...
D09-0K	THOSE PALE . . . Green eyes were wide open while the gorgeous young female concentrated away from the obvious place to look (into the lens) and dreamily rose to another level in her mind while being daguerreotyped in quarter size that was...
D09-0P	THE MAN'S HAND . . . Arose from the girl's own shadow and his fingers gently touched her arm while a sixth plate likeness was made. The unhappy little girl nearly bit her lip in frustration as she wondered why her terrible parents forced...
D09-1	FRIENDS FOR LIFE. Smiling and showing her teeth, a young woman leaned forward and rested her torso against her female friend who was seated in a small chair. She proceeded to wrap her arms around the gal and gently put her hands together...
D09-103	WHO WAS SHE? The day I purchased her stunning resealed ninth plate oval likeness both the seller and I KNEW that the woman must have been a mover and shaker in the mid-19th century! For two months the superbly executed profile was in a...
D09-110	FRIENDLY GALS! Two chairs and a pair of cute little girls wearing identical dresses strongly suggests that they were sisters trying to behave while a sixth plate with new glass and a seal was taken. Although the surface is mostly mid-ton...
D09-114	"A. W. LEWIS" . . . was inscribed by a bold hand written in period pencil on the bottom paper of their worn intact leather case that has "PRETLOVE" pressed into the lower left corner. One of his popular flower themes is on both covers. ...
D09-115	EXTRA PIGMENTS. I have been asked numerous times if patrons who posed for their archivally sealed sixth plates had to pay extra coins to have such lavish applied colors done on the finished product. Honestly, I don't ever recall reading...
D09-117	"HILL"! Who was master Hill I asked myself while I watched him seated in that tiny chair holding some sort of thick pamphlet. If only the daguerreian's focus had been on the kid's eyes the depth of field might have permitted me to read...
D09-119	WHERE'S THE FOCUS? Why, on the fabric hung behind the woman of course. The amateur daguerreian didn't want the lady sitting and resting one arm on a table next to tinted flowers any longer than necessary so he pre-focused the lens not...
D09-135	FOREVER FRIENDS! A smiling woman leaned over her serious friend and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder while they posed together for their awesome quarter plate likeness. Each subject wore one glove, of contrasting shades on the opposite...
D09-198	LOCAL HISTORY! "Joseph Cutter . . . Of the 'Ark' Jaffrey N.H." was typed on a slip of paper that is pinned to the red silk sixth size pad opposite the male subject who was the son of Joseph and Phoebe (Gage) Cutter. Please read the...
D09-202	"GODDARD . . . WOONSOCKET" was stamped in the lower left corner of the oval brass mat surrounding the cunning kid posed for a tinted sixth plate portrait. The most remarkable feature of the entire tableau is the child's multi colored...
D09-204	WHEN SHE ENTERED . . . a room, I would wager that all conversations were halted and the collective sets of eyes, both men's and women's, appraised her appearance, admiring her exquisiteness and waited for her to speak. We are only...
D09-206	FRIENDS FOREVER! A pair of young gals with similar facial features would strongly hint at their blood relationship. The sisters sat together with arms around each other and watch ed the operator perform his task of taking at least one...
D09-207	HIS EYES . . . Certainly were part of the reason why I purchased this handsome small boy. His large liquid orbs watched a parent while the daguerreotypist tried to make the resealed sixth plate before the lad left his seat. Success was...
D09-210	A SAMPLE . . . Of that spectacular dress and a tuft of her hair are included with one of the most marvelous archivally taped sixth plate mementos that I have purchased. Someone identified the youthful beauty as Elizabeth Burge Schultz,...
D09-211	IN LOW LIGHT. The sun was either setting or rising along the tree line on the right side of the house. Before someone cleaned the surface, the daguerreotypist set up his tripod and camera along the far side of the dirt road to make the...
D09-213	HUGGING THE ARM! The handsome boy was snuggled into the corner of a padded fancy couch and cinched into place by that broad black belt with an enormous metallic buckle. His maker tightened it perfectly since the child doesn't seem overly...
D09-220	STANDING BY A COLUMN. Behind the lovely lad two legs of a tripod that held a head clamp are visible. The device was used to support a person's head and keep it stationary during the exposure. The blue-eyed boy rested his elbow on that...
D09-221	CONTRAST! What was his rush to have this holographic sixth plate that has a new archival seal taken? The fellow must have leaped into his clothes and dashed to the nearest extremely competent daguerreian and sat while his visage was...
D09-223	QUARTER PLATE CASE! Maybe the woman couldn't afford the larger size and settled for a sealed sixth plate. Does it really matter? Her friendly eyes and marvelous mouth are so pleasing that I barely noticed that magnificent dress she wore,...
D09-224	LOCKS OF HER HAIR . . . have been perfectly preserved in the sixth sized case. They were woven into a tiny wreath and held together with a robin's egg blue ribbon. The perky gal wore many piece of golden jewelry and unfortunately, at one...
D09-35	DAG OF MANY COLORS. I did a double take upon opening the chap's whole leather case. He was posed for a rather random bust portrait until his operator decided to pull out all the daguerreian stops and create an electric blue wash around...
D09-36	VULNERABLE! Doesn't that appear to be the shadow of the precocious lad's mom on the left side of his splendid retaped sixth plate that was taken in the studio of Tyler & Co. when that firm was operating in Boston, circa 1854 or in...
D09-38	HELEN OF TROY! Or might the woman be Imogen the virtuous wife of the exiled Posthumus Leonatus? A beautiful resealed quarter plate rendering of a mythological figure shown holding a letter from Leonatus. Stamped in the lower left corner...
D09-43	VERY RARE PAPER MAT! Yes, the lovely lady is framed at angles because the person who cut out the original mat didn't use an upright rectangle before he sliced away at the decorative paper with a Robin's Egg Blue back. I had never...
D09-52	FLOATING ON BLACK. An older man was copied onto a sixth plate from a small oval that would have been placed most likely in a piece of woman's jewelry. The gent's salt and pepper hair flew out from his skull. Looking closing under his...
D09-53	TINY OVAL. The daguerreian used a full size retaped sixth plate to reproduce a painting onto his own silver canvas. Then he found a brass mat with a small opening to suitably frame the piece. I have looked at that image several times...
D09-63	AN OLDER MAN. Sure he might have been the proud father or even a grandfather responsible for controlling that baby's movements while they were posed for a resealed sixth plate, making an effort to keep the child quiet and calm. The man...
D09-74	TOGETHER! He and she were most probably married; raising children and lived happily ever after their pair of sixth plates that another person archivally taped were taken circa 1846 in a studio run by an extremely competent technician. ...
D09-76	F.B. UNDERWOOD 1849 . . . was inscribed horizontally in flowery penmanship on the gal's faded red silk pad inside the complete leather case. The name might indicate the sitter was Miss Underwood or that could have been her quarter plate...
D09-9	"HOME SWEET HOME . . . Christian Thomas my only brother, Fannie Frederick City Maryland 'My darling brother'" was all written in pencil on the black bottom paper of a late (after 1854) wooden and paper case that was used for both sixth...
D09-93	AN OLDER DANDY! He was still a head turner even at his age when he walked or rode to an appointment for his resealed likeness in sixth plate size to be taken. Being a serious no nonsense type of guy, he probably briefly engaged the...
D10-005	WAS EYE COLOR . . . Really so important to this youthful swain that he asked the daguerreotypist to delicately tint his left eye blue and the right eye light brown? I think in 25 years of collecting retaped sixth plates, I have only seen...
D10-14	WHAT WASN'T USED . . . Tells the entire tale! Look closely between the brother (he would be on the left) and his sister. See that piece of curved iron with the adjustment screw above the back of the chair. Were these adorable children...
D10-31	A SOMBER FELLOW. Could he have been a member of the missing button society and that was one of the reasons he hired a daguerreian to make such an evocative retaped sixth plate remembrance? The man looked directly into the lens but his...
D10-33	"GREAT UNCLE . . . John Pyatt" As you all will notice, there are buff marks visible on this retaped sixth plate. In fact, the operator was uncertain about the exact way to prepare the silver. He used bowed strokes horizontally across Mr....
D10-39	ALL THE WAY OVER. I certainly jumped at the opportunity to own this erudite scholarly subject taken in three-quarter angle repose with a magnificent comb over! His intense concentration also impressed me! The tonality is extremely rich...
D10-44	A MAGICAL DRESS! This attractive lass who was taken in sixth size has remarkable condition and wonderful patina. She visited a talented daguerreian circa 1846 and has been archivally sealed. She is kept in a complete leather case with...
D10-46	ELDERLY IN BROOKLYN! When Charles H. Williamson had his brass mats impressed with his name there was no mistaking that either he or his brother Edward were responsible for the portrait. Stylistically speaking Williamson attained a...
D10-47	STRENGTH . . . In her firmly pursed lips and glowering eyes would not permit any person who viewed her retaped sixth plate likeness to mistake the hard woman for a push over in her daily life, most likely in or around Philadelphia. The...
D10-49	QUAKER MADE! Certainly the older women who wore her glasses for a freshly sealed sixth plate sitting would have sewn most if not all of her ensemble. That morning before marching off to be daguerreotyped she dressed with great care and...
D10-61	IN ANOTHER DIMENSION . . . The gent might have been an owl! White tufts of hair curled upwards above his ears while intense beady dark eyes moved swiftly around the room only to remain focused and frozen for a quick exposure while he sat...
D10-62	A FINE STUDY! This splendid architectural view was definitely taken by a daguerreotypist who used his portrait lens to make the archivally sealed quarter plate image. Notice how the central group of people gathered on the front steps is...
D10-63	WHIPPLE'S CHILD! Harriet P. Bond, an adorable little tyke somehow managed to stand motionless, without her head moving even while she shrugged one shoulder that created a ghostly effect on her right side. Because Harriet's finished...
D10-67	DARKENED EYES! If this serious boy didn't apply eye makeup before visiting a daguerreotypist about 1845 to have this unusual sixth plate portrait taken, then what possibly could have created those strange shadows? Looking closer, I think...
D10-69	"CONLEY GEORGE . . . Ben R. George Uncle (Ireland)" was written on a yellow slip of paper that comes along with this intrepid citizen who sat circa 1849-50 for his powerful retaped quarter plate portrait. While he was certainly born in...
D10-71	"ASA Felt . . . B.(orn) 1787" was written on an old label and his name was also penciled in the bottom of a sixth size leather case that has a broken spine. The crusty curmudgeon either had to pass gas as he sat in front of the camera,...
D10-72	TWO WERE DROOPING! And I'm referring to the lad's jacket buttons. And maybe a third one near the arm of his tightly tailored sleeve. Twas the fashion in the early 1840s, although the boy didn't sit for his likeness until 1846 most likely....
D10-78	HER RED DRESS. It is uncertain to me if the daguerreotypist pre- focused the plane of the plate on the chair's knob on the right side, since that was the easiest object to see inside his camera, or did he attempt to actually create the...
D10-79	IF HE WERE YOUR SON . . . Would you have accepted this awesome childhood portrait that shows the tiny boy nearly falling out of his off the shoulder and chest dress? Somehow the remarkable sixth plate with a fresh surface and recent...
D10-80	CHANDLER FAMILY! Sarah from Boxborough and Leonard Chandler of Princeton (both in Massachusetts) were married Oct. 21, 1842. He was a 63-year-old farmer in the 1880 census while Sarah was taking care of their Princeton home. Because I...
D10-81	MAGNIFICENT IN COLOR! Yes, my reproduction accurately displays one of the finest hand colored half plate daguerreotypes that I have purchased in years, but until the next collector opens the early, circa 1845 leather case with a...
D10-82	DELICATELY DONE! Oh to have a full sixth plate close up of that tightly woven basket with the hand stitched flowers adorning each panel. Not that the young teenager wearing a very unusual dress style and maybe a gold painted wedding band...
D10-84	ARTIFICIAL SNOW! Sure, that's what all those white dots are! And YOU thought they must be mold spiders! I mean really, the kid was dressed for winter and it was so cold in the studio while he stood for his sixth plate that his pants...
D10-85	AND THE REASON WAS? Decorative drapery suspended from above might have been placed there as an artistic addition to the young man's resealed sixth plate image. Or . . . the space might have been rather cramped and that was the shade...
D10-87	THE EXTREME PALETTE! Surely the handsome little boy deserved to have delicately tinted toy soldiers on the table next to his arm and NOT a tiny wicker basket overflowing with pretty (remarkably colored) flowers! I will have to enter the...
D10-9	A NAUTICAL THEME! This resealed ninth plate will add eye appeal in anyone's collection. Is this lad really old enough to have been a sailor? His maker created a perfect palette to receive the youngster's image. Then he embellished...
D10-A	LET ME SAY . . . That only a very sophisticated buyer of fine daguerreotypes would probably comment favorably when their posed together quarter size leather case is opened. Usually I witness similar images examined for a millisecond then...
D10-B	WIDE . . . And old loose paper seals have kept the sixth plate dag components together for many years. The domed glass has a few minor pits and a couple scratches. There is plenty of dust, yet the precocious dark eyed little damsel...
D10-C	SURELY . . . She was quite convincing when the operator at Anson's gallery inquired about the pose his client wanted. One look at her elegant dress should have been a clue. The man accommodated the lady by raising the height of his...
D10-D	RELATIONSHIP. The great operators, like Jeremiah Gurney, not only produced technically excellent quarter plate daguerreotypes with amazing hand colors added as the final embellishment, but they were also capable of posing their clients...
D10-I	"GENERAL ...... Don Francisco Gana, brother or nephew of Mrs. J. Sewell Muir" is written on a small white card that comes with this miraculous quarter plate daguerreotype. Also included is a very long history of "General Gana" who most...
D10-M	CAN THERE BE . . . any doubt, after fully appreciating her magnificent WHOLE PLATE DAGUERREOTYPE, just how much effort the unidentified woman expended before posing in a highly skilled operator's studio? Her likeness is a masterpiece! ...
D10-O	LITTLE BIG MAN. Could the youth been more than 10 years old when he posed for his portrait done in sixth size? The lad's mother must have been fanatical and frantic before sitting him in front of a camera for the resealed likeness. She...
D2-159	MIRACLES DO HAPPEN. I was leaving an antique shop in southern Maine in 1992 when a dealer I knew walked towards me with an armful of merchandise he was going to place in his booth. In his right breast pocket I saw one third of a very...
D3-175	A MIRACLE ON SILVER! How great can a half plate daguerreotype be? I think that this sensational presentation with a tremendous amount of pertinent information carefully etched into the original cover glass is certainly a candidate for "fi...
D4-166	AN OLD MAID? She may be an attractive lady, but the fact still remains that, (well at least from this frontal view), she has a cackling witchÕs nose. Albeit, she does sit calmly and there is an overall feeling of gentleness coming from...
D4-267	SURREAL! I will begin by telling you that the plate stock is heavy, the sides are perfectly flat and the corners are barely clipped at slight angles. There isn't any hallmark. The beautiful octagonal mat is actually made from thick...
D4-269	"REMEMBER ME"! An early sixth plate, circa 1843, revealing a seated young girl holding the bottom of a dark vase filled with an arrangement of flowers. I always wondered what the words were on the facing of the pot. Even when I copied...
D5-14	A SURVIVOR! The woman on the left appears to have contracted small pox when she was younger. It was a deadly virus in the mid-19th century. She obviously managed to survive. Her face is covered with the lasting remnants of the disease,...
D6-718	OF STERNER STUFF! Well just maybe another ancient more serious Quaker woman with her entire life drawn on her lined face might have visited this particular unknown daguerreotypist in late 1842 or early 1843 to have a remarkable sixth...
D6-792	PROPER LAD. One mention to this kid that he was in a lower class and you would receive a fat lip! He just screams, I am rich; youÕre not, so leave me alone and donÕt talk to me. The adolescent boy stands with his hand resting steadily...
EEW-159	OKAY DAD . . . I'll do what you say this time, but HE better behave himself because I don't want to get into trouble while we are at that dag . . . well at the place we are going! The older brother made the attempt to smile for this sixth...
EEW-160	THREE . . . Kids were almost too crowded for their vertical retaped and rapidly cleaned sixth size remembrance. The boldness of the older boy was certainly challenged by his demonstrative sister who stood unafraid and self-confident next...
EEW-165	TASSEL HEADBAND. This little girl is sporting an odd fashion in her sixth plate daguerreotype. The dag is well made and she stayed still for the unknown maker, who later tinted her cheeks. The image is re-glassed and resealed. There...
EEW-169	THE CLASH! Of course the woman didn't know ahead of time when she selected that impressive dress for her semi-formal sixth size image that it would be in "contrast" with the operator's unusual table covering, did she? The late 1840s...
EEW-171	CHERRY CHEEKS! What a contrast in their expressions! Can there be any doubt that the self-assured girl and the hesitant little boy with his hand on the gal's shoulder were brother and sister? The unusual brass mat gives their retaped...