(Early Photography: Daguerreotypes) Portrait of a Three-Year-Old Girl With Her Toy Dog [Mary A. Collins with her dog "Bevis"]. [No place]: [Publisher not identified], circa 1840.
Half-plate daguerreotype image, 5-1/2" x 4-1/4". Full-length seated portrait. Housed under glass in the original full, pressed-paper case measuring 5-7/8" x 4-5/8", complete with original, functional brass latching hardware. Accompanied by two historic ephemera components: an early hand-written provenance note on paper stock, and a twentieth-century printed consignment tag from Samuel T. Freeman & Co. Auctioneers.
The physical condition of the daguerreotype plate is EXCELLENT (9/10). The silvered copper surface is exceptionally clean, clear, and chemically stable, exhibiting high contrast and minimal, localized peripheral tarnish or superficial condition issues discernible to the naked eye. The original protective glass matrix remains free of fractures. The pressed-paper case is structurally sound and entire, showing superficial handling wear consistent with its age, including two distinct surface abrasions on the lower panel where the Freeman auction tag was previously secured with adhesive tape. The manuscript provenance note and auction tag are clean and entirely legible.
Mid-Nineteenth-Century Child Portraiture and Toy Material Culture
This half-plate image represents an uncommonly early and technically superior example of commercial daguerreian art from the dawn of practical photography. Executed circa 1840—within the first few years of Louis Daguerre's process gaining traction in North America—the full-length format captures a three-year-old subject identified by the accompanying manuscript note as Mary A. Collins. Capturing infants and young children during this formative era presented severe operational challenges for practitioners due to the lengthy chemical exposure times required, making clear, un-blurred child portraiture a notable artistic and technical achievement.
The iconographic significance of the plate is enhanced by the inclusion of the child's toy dog, identified in the family note as "Bevis, named by herself." Rather than employing generic studio props, this portrait preserves an authentic item of personal juvenile property. The toy demonstrates the specific material culture of early Victorian childhood, providing historians with distinct evidence regarding mid-nineteenth-century textile, folk art, or papier-mâché toy manufacturing. The clarity of the silver plate records the textural differences between the child's clothing, her features, and the fabric elements of the animal figure.
Provenance Track, Plate Scale, and Market Scarcity
In the hierarchy of cased nineteenth-century photography, the half-plate format was an expensive luxury option, significantly scarcer than the ubiquitous sixteenth, ninth, or sixth-plate sizes commonly purchased by working-class families. The survival rate of pristine half-plates with unbroken family provenance is low. This specimen retains its historical chain of ownership via the included family note and its subsequent public appearance at Samuel T. Freeman & Co., one of America's oldest continuous auction firms.
A current global sweep of the OCLC/WorldCat database along with specialized institutional photographic finding aids confirms that early 1840s half-plate portraits displaying children with personalized playthings are highly sought after, with matching examples predominantly restricted to core regional museum archives.
A REMARKABLY PRESERVED, HIGH-CONTRAST MONUMENT OF PRE-CIVIL WAR PHOTOGRAPHY, FEATURING EXCELLENT PLATE CLARITY, FULL CASES WITH WORKING ORIGINAL HARDWARE, AND DOCUMENTED ASSOCIATIONAL PROVENANCE, CONSTITUTING A PRIZED ACQUISITION FOR PRIVATE CONNOISSEURS OF EARLY AMERICAN IMAGERY AND INSTITUTIONAL COLLECTIONS DEVOTED TO THE MATERIAL CULTURE OF VICTORIAN CHILDHOOD.
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