"A sixth-plate post mortem daguerreotype of an infant, produced by Otis H. Cooley of Springfield, Massachusetts, almost certainly dating between 1847 and 1855, the years Cooley operated his Hampden Daguerreian Gallery and subsequent Main and State Street rooms. The image has been hand-colored with particular care, the white burial gown rendered in soft blue tones and a small red flower tinted vividly at the chest, a touch of applied color that transforms the image into a deliberate memorial keepsake.

The infant rests against a dark pillow with eyes closed, the rounded face turned slightly toward the viewer, the short fine hair lying flat against the head. One small hand is folded gently across the chest beside the tinted flower, and a white lace-trimmed collar frames the gown's neckline. Draped fabric fills the background, adding depth to the oval composition presented within a rope-patterned gilt mat.

Cooley established his first daguerreian gallery in Springfield in 1842 in partnership with painter J.W. Stock, and by the late 1840s operated independently at the Hampden Daguerreian Gallery on Main Street. He was among the more prominent daguerreotypists in western Massachusetts during the medium's peak years, and post mortem commissions of this quality reflect the care his studio brought to grief portraiture.

The photographer's imprint "COOLEY / SPRINGFIELD" is stamped directly into the brass mat. The image is housed in a leather case with an ornate gilt frame and is a sixth plate."