Quarter-plate daguerreotype depicting a two-story country house with double galleries, center chimney, and picket fence, animated by a purposeful assembly of figures. Adults and children stand along the upper balcony and lower porch, while men attend to a wagon team at the gate. Curtains are drawn back from the balcony window and vines climb the posts, details that lend a lived-in intimacy to what appears to be a moment of consequence for the family.

Period architecture and dress indicate the early to mid-1850s, with the Greek-Revival massing, turned porch balusters, and louvered shutters characteristic of rural Mid-Atlantic or New England building. Photographers of the daguerreian era were occasionally called upon to mark life events outside the studio, from store openings to property acquisitions. The arrangement of family on the gallery, paired with the wagon at the fence and men gesturing near the gate, aligns with an interpretation long associated with the plate: a real-estate transfer commemorated on the day of handover, with the new owners presented on the porch as the household changes hands

Provenance and field history enrich the narrative. According to the consignor, the plate was first encountered in the early 1990s “in the middle of a field deep in Pennsylvania,” when Yanos Novomeszky showed it to Yann Mailet, along with the account that it records a deal for the sale of the house. Whatever the precise occasion, the image stands as an uncommon outdoor architectural daguerreotype, valued both for social documentation and for the clarity with which it records vernacular design, conveyance, and community ritual.

Quarter-plate daguerreotype, approximately 3¼ x 4¼ inches. Likely United States, circa 1848–1855.