CDV of Photographer Posing with a Lewis-Style Daguerreotype Camera. Attributed to late-1850s

This is a recent acquisition to go with my camera collection; a CDV studio portrait of a person (photographer?) posing with an 1851-to-1855 Lewis-style daguerreotype camera set on an ornate metal Jenny Lind stand (Lewis patented, 1851). The camera looks shiny and new. And it’s big; possibly a whole-plate (6½ x 8½ inch) format. A terrific American portrait lens with radial focusing is mounted on the camera. Technically, it’s not a great image but the daguerreian camera and stand make it desirable.

In general, most “vanity” pictures I find show dry-plate cameras from the 1880s-to-1900s. Images displaying wet plate equipment (1860s-to-1870s) are a little scarcer, while pictures (i.e., daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, CDVs, etc.) with daguerreotype cameras (typically 1840s to very early 1860s) are hard to find.

This image is undated and unfortunately has trimmed corners. The back of the cardboard is blank. Assuming the photograph is contemporary to the camera, in my opinion based on camera design details and the stand, it dates to the late 1850s.

Also shown is my c.1854 ¼-plate Palmer & Longking (Lewis-style) daguerreotype camera, which is pretty much a smaller version of what is seen in the CDV.

The CDV also has a faded pencil marking of a name, but I cannot read it.