Wide-Brimmed Top Hat

Ninth Plate Daguerreotype | Not your typical 1850s top hat, this striking, wide-brimmed model. This bold hat provides a sculptural element for the portrait, and amplifies a certain assertiveness about the fellow's character. Possibly the wearer is from the West. This is an example of how, in ante-bellum era, fashion for men allowed for an enormous choice of hats — rather more variety in the way of shapely head-gear than was available to women. Rich, warm tones. Quite sharp. This is a ninth plate daguerreotype, measuring 2 1/2 inches by 2 inches, in a half case, and dating to the early 1850s. The old glass has been replaced and the plate properly resealed by us with archival tape; Image #D-16; price on request.