Standing Tall
SOLD March 2005 |
Sixth plate daguerreotype of a proud child standing next to cathedral-back chair and wearing a small coin or medallion, anonymous American ca. 1850. With applied hand-coloring in red. In full leather case.
This triumphantly cheerful baby seems quite the live-wire. He stands atop a stool next to a high back chair whose seat, like his cheeks, has been tinted red. From his neck hangs a small coin or medallion. Unfortunately it cannot be made out exactly, although (laterally reversed) it does resemble the "seated liberty" coinage in use during the 1850s. One also thinks of the fact that P. T. Barnum held baby contests and periodically selected "prize babies" to be honored - although perhaps that's a bit of a stretcher. There is a small mold spider on his right temple.
