Framed Gent by Williams
SOLD March 2006 |
English sixth plate daguerreotype of a gent holding a pamphlet, by T. R. Williams. With applied color in heavy flesh-tone, gilt, red, green and blue. Housed as found with brass matting in a period wall-frame.
A great composition which shows Williams' use of a column and back wall to create the impression of expansive, aristocratic surroundings in a manner rather like that of Southworth and Hawes of Boston. The image however is clearly marked as Williams' work not only by coloring but by the distinctive table and column in the background, which can also be seen for example in the Williams' stereo daguerreotype in Stefan Richter, The Art of the Daguerreotype (1989), p. 67.
In addition to the more obvious flesh-tone and gilt, the tabletop has been colored red, a book behind the inkwell in green, and I believe a light blue on the sitter's eyes. A few hairline scratches in lower right area of plate appear to be original and there are no obvious signs that the image was ever in a different housing, making it an uncommon presentation of Williams work. The brass mat extends to a wider area than standard sixth-plate size.
