Tranquil quarter-plate outdoor ambrotype showing a wide angle view of a lovely country house on a small hill.  This early “naturalist” style is quite appealing for us as opposed to the traditional front and center documentation we typically see with houses and owners.  The foreground where the photographer is located appears to be surrounded by either early crops or long prairie style grass.  A rock wall is the next part of the landscape with a large group of trees on the right.  Behind this is a long wooden fence that surrounds the large house.  Some rather big shade trees are seen behind the fence on the left.  In front of the house is a young woman with a beautiful full white dress with her arms folded across her chest in a dominate pose.  She has a full head of dark luxurious hair and her complexion is quite dark but this is mostly likely from the sunlight and the distance of the photographer.  Her mother is seen behind her with an apron and her arms are tightly crossed too.  Dad is just barely visible in the same pose with arms crossed and a hat on his head.  While this was probably a commissioned image the family’s surely seems to be defensive about having their photograph captured and maybe this was an itinerant who simply fell in love with the view.   A younger girl is also barely visible in the open doorway of the house.  Because of the trees on the right it is difficult to tell if there are multiple houses or buildings on the property.  It does appear the two are connected as one big building but there is a much taller roof on the far right that might be a barn.  The plate is in very good plus condition with nice tones and contrast.  There is a spot in the collodion as seen on the top perimeter.  It is housed in half of a case. 
$300