misrememberer

[misrememberer]

Quarter plate ambrotype, American, 1862

We will start off our countdown of top ten with number ten, this beautiful quarter plate ambrotype. The old man holds a note that can mostly be read under magnification

I believe it reads

Abigail, my dear daughter, this small New Year Gift, preserve it and hereafter when I am gone, cherish it in affectionate remembrance of your father

This ambrotype just perfectly represents what early photography meant to people. They were often unique sentimental gifts, made with the express purpose of being gifted to a single person. To be kept in a case and viewed as an intimate, personal experience.

The sharpness and depth of field in this image are sensational. His blurred tufts of white hair framing his face, shadowed beady eyes behind his spectacles and beaklike nose give him the appearance of a bird.

He is a beautiful character, straight from the pages of a Dickens novel.