Sixth plate daguerreotype of silhouette of Colonel Derick Lane (1755-1831). Circa 1840s. Contemporary thermoplastic frame under traditional brass mat and clear glass.
A visually striking and highly unusual 1840s daguerreotype preserving the period silhouette of Colonel Derick Lane, a decorated Revolutionary War Captain of the 2nd New Jersey Continental Line and founding father of Troy, New York. Rather than a standard photographic likeness captured from life, the plate features a reproduction of a period hollow-cut profile silhouette. Drawn against a softly reflective silver background, the striking profile depicts Lane facing right, showcasing a highly distinct, late-Georgian profile with tied-back hair and a ruffled cravat.
Born in Bedminster, New Jersey, Lane compiled an impressive military pedigree during the American Revolution. He entered the service as a young private before ascending rapidly through the ranks, securing a commission signed by John Hancock as a Second Lieutenant in the 2nd New Jersey Regiment. Lane went on to serve as a Captain in the Continental Army, surviving the brutal combat of White Plains, Long Island, Short Hills, Brandywine, Monmouth, and the ultimate victory at Yorktown. Following the war, he relocated to New York, where he was commissioned as a Colonel in the Rensselaer County Militia in 1798. Settling in Troy, New York, Colonel Lane became one of the city's founding fathers, serving as the President of the Village from 1814 to 1815, a state assemblyman, and an influential merchant. Because Lane passed away in 1831 - a full eight years before the public release of the daguerreotype process - this plate represents a mid-1840s effort by his descendants to use the burgeoning magic of photography to replicate an invaluable, fragile family silhouette for future generations.
During the dawn of the photographic era, affluent families frequently brought precious, pre-photographic heirlooms, such as painted miniatures, silhouettes, and wax portraits, into studios to have them copied onto durable silvered plates. Finding a silhouette-copy daguerreotype that is firmly identified to a decorated Continental Army officer and city founder is a rarity, transforming a simple shadow portrait into a tangible monument to early American history.
[Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Silhouette, Silhouettes, Copy Daguerreotype, Revolutionary War, Continental Army, New Jersey Line, Yorktown]
The image displays a clean plate surface with only a hint of expected tarnish, mostly confined near the edges of the brass mat. The plate is securely housed in an original period thermoplastic wall frame with a missing lower right corner.
