1/6 plate Daguerreotype of Lady with Tortoise Hair Comb, 1840s (ca. 1849)
Seated woman with arm resting on cloth covered posing table, her hair oiled and brushed into a horizontal bend at the ears, a band at the forehead carried back to the crown knot and held by a tortoise comb, wearing a long sleeved dress with a low panel of shirred gathers, trimmed elbow-length sleeve caps and whitework frill to match the standing collar, small hoop earrings, a bracelet on one wrist, and a brooch near the throat, a fine watch chain around her neck and a ring on one finger, holding a small box in the hand resting on her lap, color applied to her cheeks, earrings, brooch, watch chain and ring are gilded. Preserver: [none] (pre-1847). Mat: Nonpareil with sandy finish (1840s). Case: Leather-covered wood frame half case with a scarce geometric design (Berg No. 5-81) embossed on the back (the engraver’s name PAQUET SC appears in the lower left corner and PHILADA in the lower right corner – listed as a die sinker in Philadelphia 1850-55 and as a die sinker with the U.S. Bureau of Engraving & Printing in Philadelphia in 1858), with a red velvet pinchpad (1850s).
Via: Historical Society of Pennsylvania
