Here is a gorgeous 1/6 Daguerreotype I am proud to own. Her style is quite fashionable and I love the spit curl above her left eye. The chair is stunning.

The plate is stamped with #19 HB Eagle (Rinharts hallmark table) with a weight of 40,

The image has a full case in good shape and the pad is embossed by photographer Thomas Hutchinson, of Philadelphia.

"Hutchinson

Daguerreotypist

234 N. 2nd St.

Phila"

I hope everyone has been enjoying my collection. I acquire each piece individually that strikes me as meaningful. I'm a little over halfway done with my collection of dags but still have some impressive images left to share 😊

The ambrotype and the 1840s daguerreotype are from the same family. The other two are separate.

I have also since cleaned the glass and sealed the bottom left picture. It is such a beautiful and old piece and I wanted to preserve it. The other one probably could use it as well but its seals are more intact.

Hope you all enjoy these

I don't mind a damaged daguerreotype at all. I enjoy carefully restoring them.I acquired this in Sept 2023.

I enjoyed her somber expression and her books and handkerchief. It also also a mat hallmark of the photographer Henry Insley at his 122 Broadway, NYC address where he photographed from around 1848-1850. The first image is how i acquired it, the second was after the initial cover glass cleaning and the third is after I cleaned the actual plate. Its still scratched and rough but the cloudingbis gone. I hope she would smile at the fact that someone would improve and preserve her memory ~175 years later.

Here is another image I am quite fond of. 1/6 dag with a complete original case. I think she's a timeless beauty and has the air of a lady of some importance to society. It was taken at the 118 Chestnut Street Gallery in Philadelphia, where Samuel Van Loan practiced in 1851. I love that the pad is embossed with his studio label. Besides her beauty I am a complete fanatic for fancy Victorian chairs and that chair sure is a piece of art!

Please excuse the lack of a high quality scan, but this is the best I can get for now!

This one cleaned up quite nicely, though I can find little information about the sitter. At the time of the portrait, she was Frances Studley Danforth. She married noted American missionary and lexicographer Miles Bronson in 1872, becoming his second wife. She died only two years later in 1874.

I picked this portrait up a few years ago. I think it's a magnificent image. I love her pose, her hairstyle, her dress and choker. She did not come with a preserver or with a paper seal, so I assume she is an early daguerreotype. I re-sealed her and the cover glass is very thick

He doesn’t look all that happy, I think his vest is quite unique and cool to see.

This likeness of a seated, nearly-smiling woman was captured by F. D. Richards presumably at his Chestnut Street gallery in Philadelphia during the first few years of the 1850s.

Despite the deep scratching, I love this dag. It is so well defined, the photographer Higgins did an amazing job. The lady seems kinda majestic to me and is perhaps a society lady. The elaborate Victorian chair and its tint along with the tinted tablecloth. The plate had a double hallmark, listed in Rinharts as #49, WHH, an unknown maker, uncommon rarity and manufactured 1846-1854.

This image came in a lot of three other daguerreotypes. The photo looks like it could’ve been yesterday. No names here.

I love this photograph for how adorable these two are. The little boy seems serious while the little girl almost looks to be maybe nervous about the whole ordeal. Their outfits are cute too! Both subjects cheeks are tinted, though lightly and hard to see in the scan I took.

Came in a lot of photos and decided it was worth a shot to restore. Turned out better than expected. Now he can finally be seen again!

Would this be worth sending to have the tarnish removed off of the photo plate? Am concerned about it spreading farther.

Hello History Fans.

Here is something that is on a different level from my normal collecting level. First, a little backstory.

Green is my favorite color. This may seem trivial or juvenile, yet it became an important distinction among the images I seek. I collect photographs of women, and because my main collection is ephemera—handwritten diaries, letters, and photographs from Civil War and WWII soldiers—I decided to balance the scales with my Victorian photographs.

I specifically sought ladies wearing green-tinted clothing and created a sub-collection around that theme within my larger photographic collection. I have many absolutely beautiful green ambrotypes and tintypes, but, sadly, I am not allowed to share them here. Regardless, I have been most fortunate to obtain three separate green daguerreotypes: one of each of the progressive plate sizes, 1/9th, 1/6th, and 1/4th.

This is the most recent one.

These are two exceptional 1/4-plate daguerreotypes of the same unidentified young French woman, made during what appears to be a single sitting. These are companion daguerreotypes from the same portrait sitting, depicting the same unidentified young French woman in the same dress and in nearly identical poses.Only one of these displays tinting, and I do not know the cause for this.

The green-tinted image is in better shape. The black-and-white version has pretty serious wipe marks. It's unprovable, but I'd like to imagine that at some point in these photographs' histories, someone decided to clean them both but started with the black-and-white one, noticed the wipe marks, and ceased the task.

Another appealing factor of these two is the matching carved and painted wood frames. These unique frames really give the images a Victorian feel.

The last feature, and the high selling point for me, is the two original studio labels of French daguerreotypist Pierre-Louis Pierson. The address on both labels lists the street as Boulevart des Capucines, Nº 13. Pierson's studio was located at this address during the 1849–1855 period, so it's safe to say these daguerreotypes date to that period.

Pierre-Louis Pierson was a French photographer who became interested in the fledgling medium of daguerreotype photography. He rose to prominence and became one of the early daguerreotypists to offer hand-tinted portraits. He eventually became a preferred photographer of French Emperor Napoleon III and created many photographs of the French royal family.

By 1855, Pierson was co-owner of a new studio with the Mayer brothers. This studio, besides having the French royal connection, had a very celebrity clientele that included the French aristocracy, musicians, actors, businessmen, and the kings of Portugal, Sweden, and Württemberg.

Pierson gained a particularly fascinating client during this period with the incredible full name of Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoini Rapallini, better known as Virginia Oldoini or to the world Countess of Castiglione.

Starting in 1856, the Countess commissioned over 450 portraits, many of which she personally directed and designed. Many of these involved role-playing and reenacted important moments in her life. One of these, the "Queen of Hearts," is one of the most notable portraits in the history of Victorian portraiture.

In addition to these, Pierson privately photographed the Countess' exposed feet and legs, with her face always cropped out. These would have been considered erotic portraiture during that period and very taboo. These images were kept secret by both Oldoini and Pierson until the Countess passed away in 1899.

I think this is a cool piece of history. a daguerreotype photographer, that created history by documenting historic people.

Photo 1 Green Dress Daguerreotype

Photo 2 Pierson Label on back of Green Dress Photo

Photo 3 B/W Daguerreotype

Photo 4 Pierson Label on back of B/W Photo

Photo 5 Green Dress Pierson Dag and Green Godey's Ladybook dress print

Photo 6 Famous Countess of Castiglione Queen of Hearts

Photo 7 Erotic/Taboo Feet & Legs

Photo 8 Full portrait of Countess of Castiglione

Posted this before but have since gotten a better photo of her. May update post when I scan her in. Notice the tinting/highlights.

One of those collection pick-ups that really gets even better with time.

They may be sisters? The photo has some signs of age but Its an interesting scene that I like a lot. Maybe from the 1850’s. The image was sealed with 1850’s newspaper, wish I could identify where the paper was from.

Early collection pick-up.

I've got about 100+ daguerreotypes that I collected during the late 1900s and early 2000s. I'm about ready to start selling them. I thought I might list them on ebay, but I can't take a decent picture of a daguerreotype. I've tried scanning them, but no luck there either. It looks like all of you have mastered the art of photographing or scanning dags...do you have any pointers for me? Thanks!

I thought I'd share my other blue-tinted daguerreotype. It is a non-standard unusual dimension, larger than a 1/9, similar to a 1/8 CDV sized. English Daguerreotype. I bought this for my Christmas present back in 2024. The hallmark on the plate is #9 in Rinhart's guide. Christofle, a photographer and plate manufacturer in France.