This is one of the best daguerreotypes I have ever seen and held. No, I take that back. This is the sweetest Union Case I have ever seen and held with the most exquisite photos inside.
A company known as Littlefield, Parsons & Co. produced these thermoplastic Union Cases in 1858. They eventually produced almost 400 case designs.
The daguerreotype photos of a man and child inside were perfection. Clearly, indicating this piece belonged to a woman. No, I did not take a photo of the images. I should have but the booth was packed with women scrambling for deals.
This outer box was embossed with a sheep and a girl with what appears to be a halo surrounded by a lush garden with an apple tree and grapevines.
Daguerrreotype photos are one of the earliest processes of photography that began in 1839. Images were captured with the lights and shadows of a landscape or a person is fixed on a prepared metallic plate by the action of actinic light rays. More specifically, these are a plate of copper, with lightly coated silver. After prepping the plate, exposure to iodine vapors created a light-sensitive surface that looked like a mirror. The plate, held in a lightproof holder, was then transferred to the camera and exposed to light. The plate was developed over hot mercury until an image appeared. To fix the image, the plate was immersed in a solution of sodium thiosulfate or salt and then toned with gold chloride.
Complicated process indeed!
We now have our phones to hold our memories. Can you imagine having only two photos encased in this small case to remember your loved ones? It is amazing how photography has changed over these 184 years. It is equally amazing that this has withstood time. It is humbling holding a piece of history almost 200 years old.
Forgotten Winds 