Anonymous American Photographer

whole-plate daguerreotype, sealed, cased, annotated 'Mrs. Averick T. White / From / Mrs. James B. Richardson / May 13 1859' in an old hand in ink inside the rear cover, circa 1850

Acquired from Ken Appollo, Rhinecliff, 1995

Stanley B. Burns, Mirror Mirror: The Burns Collection Daguerreotypes (New York: The Burns Archive Press, 2012), pl. 73

This impressive, highly detailed whole plate, is very crisp and highly detailed. Most of the sitters' cheeks are blush-tinted. There is a very thin, unobtrusive band of tarnish following the left and right edges of the mat. Upon close inspection, a few scattered tiny white spots are visible. There is a hazy film on the underside of the glass that is visible in raking light. There are some isolated, small scratches to the glass that are barely visible and mostly confined to near the edges. There are scattered spots of green tarnish on the mat. The following is written in an unidentified hand in pencil inside the rear cover of the case: 'James B. Richardson & Family / Fanny on left, Summer Street, Boston, Mass. / About 1850.' The case is intact but worn overall, especially near the hooks where there are some losses to the leather.
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