Daguerreotype of Child in Plaid Vest with Strange Hands in Fine Thermoplastic Case mosaic tray The giraffe has jointed legs

The giraffe has jointed legs as well as nails for horns and tail (painted with the same pattern detail as the rest of him)

Really wonderful things

1982 and 1984 examples recently sold at auction)

5 1/2" x 3 3/4" x 1 1/4

1900 or so I believe and think either Mexican or New Mexican—and she’s quite patriotic feeling now in her red white and blue

Daguerreotype of Child in Plaid Vest with Strange Hands in Fine Thermoplastic Case mosaic tray The giraffe has jointed legsI love the androgynousness of the young subject in this daguerreotype, and his (I presume) plaid vest, and the way the posts on the back of the chair rise from his shoulders like wings. There is also a mysteriousness about the hands, which seem to emerge from another body to wrap around the waist of the subject (as in a hidden mother), raising the question of whether this might in fact be a post mortem. I'm not sure, but I love the strangeness. Housed