A post mortem portrait of a young child anchors this sixth plate daguerreotype, a format well suited to the intimate, sorrowful commissions that defined memorial photography in mid-nineteenth century America. The child is depicted laid out and viewed from above at a slight angle, with no photographer's imprint visible on the case or plate. The image dates stylistically to the 1840s or 1850s based on the format, mat style, and the scalloped brass preserver framing the plate.

The child wears a dark dress or jacket with a wide white collar and a vertical row of small light buttons down the center front, with hands folded and resting low in the frame. Light-colored hair falls loosely to one side, partially gathered near the ear, and the child rests against what appears to be a pillow or fabric-lined surface. The eyes are closed and the lips are slightly parted.

Post mortem daguerreotypes of children were among the most common commissions of the era, frequently the only photographic record a family would have of a lost child, and the care taken in dressing and composing the subject reflects the grief and tenderness with which such portraits were made. The leather case opens to reveal a red velvet interior with a gold-embossed mat surrounding the scalloped preserver.