Portrait of a composed middle-aged woman seated in three-quarter view and looking directly into the camera with a steady gaze. Her hair is parted and drawn back smoothly, revealing deliberate curls just in front of the ears. She wears a dark dress with light decorative collar and a centrally pinned brooch, complemented by a white underscarf or chemisette.

Stamped “MARSTON’S” in the brass mat at lower right, the daguerreotype is the work of an identified photographer active in the mid-19th century. Joseph Marston, a daguerreian in Philadelphia, Pa, was known for its crisp clarity and restrained but effective posing, qualities evident here in both the lighting and the sitter’s dignified presentation. The image is housed in a full pressed-paper case with ornate floral embossing, typical of the 1850s.