Daguerreotypes are one-of-a-kind images on highly polished, silver-plated sheets of copper, sensitized with iodine, exposed in a camera, and developed in mercury fumes. The first publically announced form of photography, daguerreotypes made portraiture available to the masses. This photograph is a modest sixth-plate daguerreotype with hand coloring that at first glance appears common, until one takes note of the sitter’s black eye. Given the relative affordability of sixth-plate daguerreotypes at the time, it is possible the portrait was taken specifically to commemorate this shiner.