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| 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 young man's workshop to make the occupational likeness. Stacks of leather toes and heals filled the left side of the craftsman's workbench. Various tools of his livelihood were placed around the boot he was constructing. It was supported by a metal post secured to the floor and a cup shaped piece of iron resting on the surface. The cobbler held a glue brush in one hand above a stained round vessel and another device in his other hand. That strangely patterned shirt was worn over a dark vest. I haven't concluded yet why it was cut in such an odd fashion along the bottom. Brightness streamed into the area from behind the camera's position. While the exposure was spot on the operator's chemistry went slightly awry creating that wild blue/green color on the gent's plaid trousers and many of the shoe parts. The wrinkled cloth isolated the workman from the remainder of his room. Could an itinerant daguerreotypist have convinced his client that it would be beneficial to have the plate produced or did the tradesman contact a local cameraman? Another hand initially sealed the slightly smaller plate and made many abrasions from the middle of the image downwards. There are the teeniest of white specks on the subject's eye and inside his hat. Given the youthfulness of the lad, I wonder if he was serving an apprenticeship? Casey has made a new leather spine on the case that has an uncommon geometric theme. $4,250 |
