6. Daguerreotype Plate Holder with Folding Doors, c. 1850

Unsigned.

Unusual form of large format plate holder used with early daguerreotype cameras, for plates 240 x 184 mm (92 x 73 inches). The sensitized daguerreotype plate, secured to a loose panel, was placed face downwards into the back of the holder. When the holder was in position behind the camera, the double doors were opened from the outside by means of the brass levers (one is broken) prior to exposure. In most respects, plate holders for daguerreotypes and the wet-collodion process are indistinguishable. The later dry-plates were secured in dark-slides from which the slide was withdrawn prior to exposure and then replaced immediately afterwards.

Height 243 mm, width 280 mm, depth 39 mm.
Inventory no. 96,192