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Unidentified photographer
Portrait of an elderly couple
n.d.
Daguerreotype
Private collection of Martin Jürgens
LL/118561
(Martin Jürgens, Facebook, 25 February 2022) I love the different levels of time and value in this daguerreotype. At the beginning, the original plate was shown as a whole, depicting the couple. Then it was copied, and the copy daguerreotype must have been given a new mat, one that only showed the gentleman. Finally, someone gave the copy plate a new mat to reveal both the man and the woman again, but the tarnish is still there to tell the story.
(Martin Jürgens, Facebook, 26 February 2022) Image package including preserver: 82x70 mm. The current case is a standard US-American sixth plate case.
Attempts at dating (following Nolan, Fixed in Time, 2017):
Original mat: Pebbled octagon (1845-1855)
Original preserver: Simple (until 1850)
Original date: 1845-1855
Intermediate mat, now missing: oval, no known date
Current mat: Pebbled double elliptic (1849-1853)
Current preserver: S6 rustic standard (1851-1856)
Current case: recto: 514, Gabrielle’s bouquet (1851-1855)
Verso: 654, Greek corners (1851-1855)
Case pad: red silk (1842-1855)
Current housing dates to 1851-1853, but it could have been implemented later of course, since the intermediate mat must have been on the plate long enough for the heavy tarnish to develop.
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LuminousLint 
@LuminousLint