Two young women identified on a period paper label as Frances and Mary C. Sprouse sit together in this sixth plate daguerreotype, made by Silas A. Holmes at his 289 Broadway studio in New York City, active circa 1847 to 1859. The image is housed in a leather case with an embossed floral bouquet cartouche on both covers and a brass clasp closure, with a red velvet interior pad opposite the image. A gilt mat with a rounded-arch opening frames the plate within the case.

The woman at left wears a plaid dress with dark ribbon trim at the bodice and sleeves, a wide black belt, and a white lace collar with ruffled cuffs; her hair is worn in ringlets at the temples. The woman at right is dressed in a dark bodice with a wide lace collar and a voluminous plaid skirt, her hair similarly styled, and she rests one hand lightly on her companion's arm. Applied hand coloring is visible on the cheeks of both subjects.

Silas A. Holmes was among the prominent daguerreotypists working in New York City during the 1840s and 1850s, operating at 289 Broadway during the final years of the daguerreotype's commercial dominance before the widespread adoption of the paper photograph.

The maker's imprint "HOLMES / 289 Broadway" is stamped into the lower edge of the gilt mat. A period paper label affixed below the case reads, in manuscript, "Frances and Mary C. Sprouse at [location partially illegible]."

Property of a Palmer, Massachusetts gentleman.