Winter's Chill
SOLD October 2000 |
Quarter plate daguerreotype, anonymous American, 1850s. Housed in full case with split spine.
Thoroughly bundled, this young woman was clearly not daguerreotyped in one of those studios which were well heated in winter. We thus have the benefit of her discomfort in what is essentially an outdoor daguerreotype taken indoors. Besides the unusual clothing, this is a truly beautiful plate of the highest technical order, where sharpness goes beyond mere detail - the fabric of her coat for example has a tactile reality for the eye. Some mat abrasion at edges and a small mold spider at right.
Images and text copyright © 2000-2023 by Christopher Wahren Fine Photographs