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Daguerreotype, French Artillery Officer, 1840's

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Daguerreotype, French Artillery Officer, 1840's - very rare and early example of this art, with an elaborate frame and portrait. Unknown French military officer is seated in full dress uniform in mid 1840-1860 era. Frame and case have an outer floral design embossed into the leather, with ornate touches to the metal frame and border inside, as well as red velvet lining. The Daguerrotype process was invented in France and was only popular for a 20 year period between 1840 and 1860, and this is a fine surviving example with a well preserved image and case.
Provenance: Miki and James J. Mangan III of Fairfield, CT
Size: L. 3.75" x H. 4.75" x D. less than 1"
Weight: 5oz
Condition: Very good with some light imperfections mainly in the field.
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The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate. The raw material for plates was called Sheffield plate, plating by fusion or cold-rolled cladding and was a standard hardware item produced by heating and rolling silver foil in contact with a copper support. The surface of a daguerreotype is like a mirror, with the image made directly on the silvered surface; it is very fragile and can be rubbed off with a finger, and the finished plate has to be angled so as to reflect some dark surface in order to view the image properly. Depending on the angle viewed, and the color of the surface reflected into it, the image can change from a positive to a negative.

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