Quarter plate seated studio portrait daguerreotype. New York City: Beckers & Piard, ca. 1853-1856. Separated full leatherette case. Brass mat die-stamped with photographer's imprint. 

A three-quarter-length portrait that captures a fashionable young woman seated in an intricately carved chair. She wears an expansive, wide-sleeved dress of plaid fabric with voluminous pleated folds, accented by a delicate lace modesty piece at the neckline and a sheer dark lace mantle draped across her shoulders and down her arms. Her center-parted hair features elongated ringlets framing her face and cascading well onto her shoulders.

Partners Alexander Beckers and Victor Piard began working together in 1849, operating at their 264 Broadway location from 1853-1856. Beckers, who famously held patents for revolutionary stereoscopic tabletop viewers, and Piard were celebrated for their exacting lighting and rich, neutral tonal scale, both on full display in the subtle rendering of the fabric's luster and the sitter's calm expression.

[Daguerreotype, Quarter Plate, Beckers & Piard, Alexander Beckers, Victor Piard, 264 Broadway, New York Photography, Victorian Fashion, Plaid Silk Dress, Drop Curls, Ringlets, Rococo Chair, Cased Image, 19th Century Photography, Antebellum Portraiture]

The plate displays outstanding focal clarity and fine tone. Some solarization where the mat meets the plate.