Unidentified photographer
n.d.
T.C. Brown's Jersey City Store

Daguerreotype, 1/4 plate
Larry Gottheim, Be-hold, Inc
Courtesy of Larry Gottheim - Be-Hold (53 / 9)
 
Many collectors of daguerreian street scenes search for signs and clues to identify the location. This + plate daguerreotype has clear signs all over, and the Jersey City location is clearly indicated. But more than being an architectural record, this is a lively genre view of daily life.
 
It is separated into two groups. At left are the people leaving the Holmes & Gollerd establishment, with the woman in the bonnet about to mount the waiting carriage. In the center a top-hatted gent holds his arm against the clothing store sign- This is probably T.C. Brown himself. At right another woman in a bonnet carries her newly purchased fabrics. Rolls of fabric are displayed on the sidewalk beneath a small umbrella. Other patrons emerge from the store.
 
I sold this once before, and now it has returned. Back then a friend who is a major daguerreotype collector realized he had another example of the same daguerreotype. We compared them side-by-side, and they were both identical-one was not a copy of the other. We decided they were both period copies of a whole plate original. Neither of us had suspected this before. One can then see subtle signs of the copy-- the light areas above Brown's head are on the original, not this plate. The darkening in the lower corners can be products of the copying. But not to worry - this is a rich pristine plate. Period copies of daguerreotypes were much more common than is usually realized, but we generally don't know when we might have one. In half case. (Larry Gottheim, April 2009)
 
LL/32253