Carte de visite Private collection of Ron Coddington he face of an infant peaks out from a lace-fringed coverlet carefully laid across the top of an ornate crib; its tasseled basket topped by the same material as the blanket. The crib is held in place by a brass stand. Behind the crib, hanging on the papered wall, is a framed photograph, probably a daguerreotype or ambrotype, and what may be an oil painting. At first glance, the baby appears to be sleeping. Upon closer examination, the child's eye sockets seem to be sunk far back into the skull and the mouth slightly askew, suggestive of a tiny tot who lost a battle with disease. A member of the family commissioned a local photographer to come to the deceased infant's home to memorialize the sad occasion.
