Elegant Lady
SOLD February 2003 |
Sixth plate daguerreotype of woman seated by an octagonal table with bud vase and flowers, late 1840s. Housed in a full case with split spine, "lyre" clasp is loose.
The inlaid octagonal table in this image is unusual and is sometimes used as a basis for attributing images to the daguerreotypist John Mayall, who operated in Philadelphia until approximately 1846 and afterwards departed for a long career in London. This plate bears a "SCOVILLS" (straight) plate mark, and is varnished on its reverse and inscribed with the number "246."
For another image with what appears to be the identical "Mayall" table, see the illustration of Lot 39 in Sotheby's NY sale of the David Feigenbaum Collection (4/27/1999), Portrait of Albert Sands Southworth by John Jabez Mayall. Lighting in the Feigenbaum image also appears similar to the present image.
