Daguerreian Dreams

Friday, July 10, 2015

Civil War Era Images

I recently received 16 carte de visite images with US revenue stamps on the backs from Jeffrey Kraus. The wonderful thing about these stamps is that they were used between 1864 and 1866, so images with the stamps affixed can be dated to that time period. Here are a few examples:

Uknown Photographer - 1864

Hennigar & Johnson of Middletown, CT - 1865

J.B. Roberts of Clyde, NY

Young Couple c1850

The latest addition to my dag collection is this wonderful 6th plate of a young couple holding hands for the camera. Although damaged, this clearly illustrates how easily a daguerreotype can be damaged by simply running your finger over the surface, perhaps to remove dust or tarnish. The plate is stamped with the "H.P. (standing eagle) 40" hallmark, which I believe could be french (?). Someone has cleaned the plate in the past, so I did not. After photographing the plate, I cleaned the glass and resealed it.

UPDATE 17/12/18: I have since learned that this daguerreotype is of Charles Coolidge (1831-1898) and Susan Sarepta (Ellison) (1833-1917) Johnson of Healdville, VT. They were married in 1853 and had at least 4 children. Charles was involved in the Indian Wars and the Civil War.

Photo from Jay Janell at https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2017/77/112007334_1489940359.jpg

To Clean or Not To Clean, That Is The Question

In the world of Daguerreotype collecting, the question of whether or not to clean images is a hotly debated topic. Most top collectors and dealers are against disturbing the image in any way other than cleaning or replacing the glass and resealing the image. Their reasons for the most part are compelling if the image is of an historic figure or created by an famous daguerreotypist however, what of the millions of nameless images created by unknown daguerreotypists?

In my humble opinion, it all boils down to the individual choice of the collector. I live on a fixed income, so I cannot purchase the beautifully preserved dags that are display quality and cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. I have to try to find the best quality I can for the low price-range that I am confined to and that means images that are tarnished but have the potential to be really nice images if they are cleaned.

I like to enjoy my images, and to me that means being able to see them without the distractions of tarnish, etc. This doesn't mean that I clean all my dags, just the ones that I feel would be improved by cleaning. I'll post a few Before and After examples and let you be the judge.