Ere the Substance Fade
SOLD March 2007 |
Sixth plate daguerreotype, anonymous American, medallion vignette of an sad-looking girl in plaid shawl. Housed in a full leather case in excellent condition
Ethereal as if floats against the reflective black background, the oval of this vignette appears to be a copy of of an earlier daguerreotype, one in which the sitter already seems more resigned to her fate than happy in the world. Was she already afflicted by some illness at the time of the earlier image? In any case, she seems to have been a very treasured person, since someone paid not only to have the original daguerreotype produced, but had this beautiful and (as I believe) memorial image produced after it.
Someone clearly took to heart that 19th century motto, "Secure the Shadow, Ere the Substance Fade."
The plate is in very good condition with a little applied color on sitter's face. There is a mold spider at the bottom edge along with a few specks elsewhere. Case is fresh and in excellent condition.
