A seated woman fills the frame of this half plate daguerreotype, produced by the Philadelphia partnership of James Earle McClees and Washington L. Germon, whose studio operated at the southeast corner of Eighth and Chestnut Streets from 1848 to 1855. The image is housed in a leather case with an embossed scrollwork cover and retains its original double-rope gilt brass mat with oval aperture. McClees began his photographic career in 1844 and was among Philadelphia's most prominent daguerreians of the period.

The subject wears a boldly patterned plaid dress with wide pagoda sleeves finished at the cuffs with white lace, and a white lace collar at the throat secured by a brooch. Drop earrings are visible at each ear, and her dark hair is worn parted at center with a small flat cap or hairpiece set at the back of the crown. Her left arm rests on a fabric-draped side table with a floral pattern, and a carved chair back is partially visible at her right.

McClees and Germon were recognized exhibitors at American photographic exhibitions of the early 1850s, and their Chestnut Street gallery was among the most fashionable portrait destinations in antebellum Philadelphia. The studio imprint "McCLEES and GERMON, PHILA" is stamped directly into the lower portion of the gilt mat, confirming attribution.

The mat imprint reads: McCLEES and GERMON / PHILA. The image is a half plate daguerreotype.

Property of a Palmer, Massachusetts gentleman.