"A young woman's bust-length portrait fills this sixth plate daguerreotype, produced at the celebrated Broadway gallery of Alexander Beckers and Victor Piard, active in New York City between 1849 and 1856. The image is presented beneath a black paper mat framed by a blue-ruled oval opening, with gilt acanthus-leaf ornaments at each corner of the mat. The leather case carries an embossed floral spray on its outer cover and a stamped velvet pad on the interior bearing the imprint ""Beckers & Piard, 201 Broadway, New York.""

The subject wears a dark silk dress with softly gathered bodice and a full white lace collar tied at the throat with a loose bow. Her dark hair is center-parted and drawn smoothly back to a braided coil at the crown, and a drop earring with a pearl or bead terminal is visible at her right ear. Her expression is direct and composed, her gaze meeting the lens with quiet steadiness.

Alexander Beckers was among the most technically innovative daguerreians of the mid-nineteenth century, having trained under Frederick Langenheim in Philadelphia before establishing himself in New York, where he patented a plate holder in 1849, the same year the Beckers and Piard partnership at 201 Broadway was formed. The gallery's work is uncommon in the current market, and the attribution here is confirmed by the studio imprint on the interior pad.

The interior pad reads ""Beckers & Piard, 201 Broadway, New York."" The lot is a sixth plate daguerreotype housed in a leather case.

Property of a Palmer, Massachusetts gentleman.