Quater plate daguerreotype. Toronto, Canada: Dr. Mike Robinson at Century Darkroom, exposed and processed 19 August 2026 (World Photography Day). Housed in a custom presentation pass-partout mount with cream archival mat bearing the embossed maker monogram ("MR") and deep blue-black textured perimeter binding. Mount verso features Robinson’s printed studio label, inscribed in ink with title, commemorative dates, and signed by the artist: "Hommage à Daguerre / August 19, 1839 – August 19, 2026 / [Signed] Mike Robinson."

The masterfully composed still life brings together historic artifacts celebrating Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre and the birth of photography. Arranged in sharp focal relief across a patterned velvet table cover are a bronze portrait bust of Daguerre, an oval Giroux label ("Le Daguerréotype exécuté sous la Direction de son Auteur...") with red wax seal, commemorative portrait medals and centennial medallions, a faceted glass memorial portrait paperweight, and a miniature studio camera atop a tripod with chemical bottles. The plate showcases hand-applied, microscopic selective color tinting across the Giroux label's red letterpress and wax seal.

Dr. Mike Robinson is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost living masters and scholars of the 19th-century daguerreotype process. Serving as President of The Daguerreian Society, Robinson combines rigorous historical scholarship with peerless chemistry and plate-making craft. Created precisely on the 187th anniversary of France’s public gift of the daguerreotype process to the world (19 August,1839), this work represents an apex collector piece connecting early photographic history with one of its finest modern practitioners.

[Contemporary Daguerreotype, Modern Daguerreotype, Mike Robinson, Dr Mike Robinson, Century Darkroom, Daguerreian Society, Louis Daguerre, Giroux Daguerreotype, World Photography Day, History of Photography, Alternative Process, Still Life Photography, Sixth Plate]

Mint condition. The plate displays breathtaking clarity, deep mirrored fields, razor-sharp focus across every minute text and texture, and flawless tonal range.