Rare Multi-Image Exposure Study from the Landmark 1999 Sotheby’s Feigenbaum Collection of Southworth & Hawes.

Sixth plate studio daguerreotype plate featuring multiple partial exposures, with one "square" clipped for use. Boston: Albert Sands Southworth & Josiah Johnson Hawes, ca. 1850-1855. Housed under glass with a white paper spacer mat within a leather "Boston"-style case, lined in deep crimson velvet.

Provenance: Collection of David Feigenbaum, Sold at Sotheby’s New York, The Southworth & Hawes Collection: Property from the Estate of David Feigenbaum, 27 April, 1999.

This plate features an avant-garde multi-exposure composition created using the studio's specialized multiplying camera or segmented exposure techniques. Three distinct quadrants capture successive bust studies of a bearded gentleman in profile and three-quarter view, attired in a dark frock coat and cravat, while the lower-right quadrant was clipped for use, potentially in jewelry. The plate exhibits characteristic solarization and atmospheric studio lighting typical of the Boston masters' experimental process.

Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah Johnson Hawes are universally recognized as the finest artistic practitioners of the daguerreotype process in American history. Renowned for their technical virtuosity and innovation, the partners frequently utilized multi-lens cameras and internal sliding-back plate holders to capture sequential poses, study varying lighting angles, or conserve silvered copper plates during test trials. Unaltered process plates of this nature offer a rare, unfiltered look into Southworth and Hawes’ studio workflow and camera mechanics.

[Southworth and Hawes, Albert Sands Southworth, Josiah Johnson Hawes, Boston Masters, 5 1/2 Tremont Row, Boston Massachusetts, Multi-Exposure, Experimental Photography, Multiplying Camera, Process Plate, David Feigenbaum, Sotheby's 1999, 19th Century Photography] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotype, Sixth-Plate, Cased Images, American Daguerreotypes, Photographic Rarities]

Good to very good. The plate exhibits rich amber and deep blue solarized oxidation rings across the exposures, with scattered light dust and microscopic surface spots under the glass. Housed in a sound "Boston"-style case with plush velvet lining.