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.

My YouTube Video of Daguerreotypes

Thought I would try my hand at posting to YouTube, so I put this together.  I think it turned out ok.

Carte de Visite of Intense Young Man

From the collection of John Rochon

A nice carte de visite by John Cox of Hamilton, C.W. showing a vignette of a intense young man.

New Arrivals...



From the collection of John Rochon



6th plate ambrotype of a young boy, seen first in the case and then just the plate without the case.

New Arrivals...



From the collection of John Rochon

6th plate daguerreotype of a prim-looking woman from the late 1840's or early 1850's, seen first in the case with mat and then just the plate without case.



Party, Party, Party!!

I don't know if this pic of a costume party was taken during prohibition, but if it was, they were sure enjoying themselves!

From the collection of John Rochon 

Glass Negative

This is one of the treasures that I found at the 1st Toronto Image Show.  I added a bit of sepia toning, but it is otherwise unaltered.

From the collection of John Rochon