Sixth plate studio portrait daguerreotype. Zamora, [Michoacan, Mexico]: Emil Mangel, 1852. Full pressed-leather case with gilt floral perimeter stamping and heavy sand-finished oval brass mat (unsealed/resealed per typical period inspection). Plate inscribed near lower margin: "Zamora 8 bre[?] 1852 / Em Mangel fecit[?]."

The bust-length portrait depicts a handsome, dark-haired young gentleman with a neat mustache, styled in mid-19th-century attire comprising a high white collar, tied cravat, waistcoat, and open frock coat.

French-born artist and daguerreotypist Émile Mangel du Mesnil (often working under Emil Mangel) was one of the most intriguing and intrepid pioneer itinerant photographers active across Mexico, Central America, and South America during the 1840s and 1850s. Documented in Palmquist & Kailbourn's Pioneer Photographers of the Far West, Mangel produced early portraits and views across Veracruz, Mexico City, and South American port cities before establishing studios in France.

Extant daguerreotypes bearing early dates and firm attributions to Mangel are exceptionally scarce on the market.

[Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Cartes de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards]

Very good. The plate retains strong clarity and contrast. It shows some moderate perimeter clouding, a light tarnish ring along the oval mat edge, and scattered minor pinprick spots consistent with age.