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This is an extraordinary quarter plate daguerreotype of a brother and sister posed with their wonderful toys. The girl wears a beautiful long, stylish dress; her frilly pantalettes are visible at the bottom. Her little brother wears a plaid dress as well, accented with a large belt fastened with a lightly gilded oval buckle. A wonderful, large doll with ringlets in her hair is posed to the left of the girl. To the right of the boy is a spectacular, rare toy steamboat on wheels, something a toy collector would be ecstatic to have in such perfect condition today. The extravagant background is one of the most elaborate we have seen in a daguerreotype and is a perfect setting for these children and their treasures. The image is enclosed in a black-lacquered, mother-of-pearl, hand-painted case. I am unsure how to date it. I would guess the 1850s, in part because of the background, but am not at all sure. The flaming plate is very plain.
This is an extraordinary quarter plate daguerreotype of a brother and sister posed with their wonderful toys. Unfortunately they are unidentified and we know nothing about them. All that we can say is that they ceratainly came from an affluent family. Both their clothing as well as the toys and the fact that they are having a Daguerreotype portrait taken suggest this. The children look like they would be about 4 and 8 years old.
I am unsure how to date it. I would guess the 1850s, in part because of the background, but am not at all sure. Dags were the only important format in the 1840s, but ambrotypes and tin-types appeared in the mid-50s. The gurl's dress looks rather like the 1850s to us, but we know very little avout dresses. Note the boy's dress. We suspect the use of plaid for boys ws more popular in the 1850s than the 40s, but this needed to be confirmed.
The image also has no indication as to where it was taken. The background suggests an inland location, but one east of the Mississippi to us. Perhaps aport sity for riverboats, notice the boys paddel-wheel steamer.
Most dags did not have elaborate backgrounds. Even portraits from major New York studios often did not have backgrounds. The presence of the background is one reason we thin this might be a 1850s rather than a840s portrait.
The girl wears a beautiful long, stylish dress done in checks. There are matching shoulder bows, perhaps symolizing leading strings. The sleeves are very wide. Her frilly pantalettes are visible at the bottom and completely cover her stockings. Her little brother wears a plaid dress as well, accented with a large belt fastened with a lightly gilded oval buckle. would have purely a decorativ purpose. The dress except for the low-neckline is fashioned rather like a tunic suit. He seems to wear a petticoat under the dress and less fancy pantalettes than his sister. Note the stripped ankle socks and strap shoes.
A wonderful, large doll with ringlets in her hair is posed to the left of the girl. To the right of the boy is a spectacular, rare toy steamboat on wheels, something a toy collector would be ecstatic to have in such perfect condition today. The extravagant background is one of the most elaborate we have seen in a daguerreotype and is a perfect setting for these children and their treasures.
I do not think it was common for girls to wear erings in the 19th century. We see rather few examples of this in the photographic record. This may have some religious or social-class connotations. The girl also seems to be wearing a ring.
The image is enclosed in a black-lacquered, mother-of-pearl, hand-painted case. The flaming plate is very plain.
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