Among the rarest and most diminutive views of Niagara Falls ever produced in the daguerreian era, this extraordinary ninth plate is almost certainly a period reduction of a full plate photograph by Platt D. Babbitt, the famed Niagara Falls photographer known for capturing tourists posed before the American Falls in the 1850s. Rendered with exquisite clarity and hand-tinted detail, the image depicts a row of top-hatted visitors along the cliff edge, observing the dramatic sweep of Horseshoe Falls in the background, bathed in atmospheric mist.

The plate is remarkable not only for its scarcity at this size, but for the exceptional tonal control retained in what is likely a photographic copy daguerreotype—possibly created for a traveler who wanted a portable memento of the iconic location. The composition, silhouetted figures, and visual depth are immediately recognizable as Babbitt’s work, though unsigned.

Housed in a delicate leather case with a floral embossed design and deep red velvet interior pad, the presentation is as compelling as the image itself. The plate has a warm patina and only minor peripheral tarnish, allowing the visual power of the falls and its human spectators to remain vivid and engaging. Early daguerreotypes of Niagara Falls are inherently rare; at this scale, they are virtually unheard of.

An extraordinary survivor that bridges the realms of landscape, tourism, and photographic artistry.