The case is a typical European leather case of the nineteenth century approximately quarter-plate in size.
The four framing strips are of ivory, and the profile of Daguerre as well as the lettering beneath it are molded from celluloid , one of the first plastics, invented in 1856 from mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, thus dating it to the late fifties or early sixties.
This is the only example of this tribute to Daguerre I have ever seen, though it was obviously a manufactured product.
This illustration was included in the lecture "The many faces of Daguerre" presented by Matt Isenburg at the Daguerreian Society Symposium (2009).
