Group of three daguerreotypes of an unidentified sitter, all attributed to Westfield, Massachusetts photographer T.P. Collins, showing a well-dressed African American woman across two sittings in the early 1850s. The group includes two ninth plate images and one sixth plate image, all housed separately and representing a rare, cohesive portrait study from the daguerreian period.

The pair of ninth plate daguerreotypes, likely taken on the same day around 1852, feature the sitter in a formal silk dress with lace collar, lace undersleeves, and delicate fingerless mitts. Her carefully dressed hair is straightened and curled, and she is adorned with gold earrings, a brooch, and a prominent watch chain suspended from her bodice. One image shows her against a painted backdrop, while the other was taken before a plain studio setting, offering a fascinating contrast in presentation style. The cord likely supported a writing pencil, a fashionable and practical accessory during the period.

The sixth plate image appears to have been taken a few years later and also bears the distinctive paper label of T.P. Collins. In this later portrait, the sitter wears a new dress featuring ornate fringe trim and the same brooch pinned to a lace collar. She holds a small illustrated book, perhaps suggesting education or literary interest. The mat of this image has been dated to circa 1853–1856, consistent with Collins’s documented activity in Westfield from 1852 and again between 1860 and 1871, per directory listings cited in Craig’s Daguerreian Registry. Mat style attribution aligns with dating found in Sean Nolan’s Fixed in Time, adding further support to the early-to-mid 1850s range.

The grouping is exceptionally rare for its subject, documentation, and period consistency. Few African American sitters were photographed in such detail by the same operator across multiple sessions during the daguerreian era, especially with preserved provenance tied to a named studio.