Lot 2

Family portrait

Treasured half-plate daguerreotype of a mother posed with five children. Was the father no longer alive or possibly camera shy? The kids seem quite close as they are in a tight knit group on the left side while mom sits on the right perimeter. The daughter and son on the far left look like the mother while the other three have a little more of the dad present. While mom and her one daughter have similar gorgeous gowns we love the small floral designed vests on the two boys in the front. When viewing in real life the design on the vests appears to be small polka-dots but under magnification you can see they are tiny little flower petals. Something else very apparent – the family had great hair! The image is in very good plus condition with lovely tones and contrast. There are some small tarnish spots as seen which could be conserved if desired, however we wanted to leave it in the state we found it. The plate had old seals intact and we have resealed it with a new glass. It is housed in a full leather case that has some leather loss on the rails by the clasps.