A young bearded man sits for this ninth plate daguerreotype, attributed to Jeremiah Gurney at his 349 Broadway gallery in New York City, placing the portrait between 1852 and 1860. Gurney was among the most celebrated daguerreotypists of his era, a consistent prize winner at the American Institute Fair and a participant in both the London Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851 and the New York Crystal Palace of 1853. The image is housed in a leather case fitted with an elaborate gilt brass mat featuring a pierced foliate oval surround and finely tooled decorative borders.

The subject is a young man of perhaps twenty to thirty years, with curly dark hair swept back from his forehead, a full mustache, and a trimmed goatee. He wears a dark frock coat over a dark waistcoat, with a white shirt and a wide silk bow tie loosely knotted at the collar. His gaze meets the lens directly, his expression composed and self-possessed.

Jeremiah Gurney began his daguerreian career at 189 Broadway in the early 1840s and acquired the 349 Broadway address in June 1852 after purchasing the former Whitehurst gallery. His studio there attracted prominent New York clientele and was staffed by skilled operators including Hayes, Perry, and later C.D. Fredericks, making any portrait from this address a product of one of the premier American photography establishments of the period.

The photographer's imprint is embossed into the gilt mat corners and reads "GURNEY" and "349 BROADWAY."

Property of a Palmer, Massachusetts gentleman