Woman holding a posy

Full length daguerreotype portrait of a well dressed young woman.  She is seated, with one arm resting on a table beside her, and looks directly at the camera.  The daguerreotype is framed ornately in wood which has been highly polished and stained almost black.  The plate itself is framed by passe partout decorated with small jewelled flowers and a gold border. 

The paper label on the back is damaged, but reveals a partial studio address for Maison A. Bertrand, Rue Dauphin, Paris.  Alexandre Bertrand worked in Paris as a daguerreotypist from 1853 or earlier.  He also produced photographs on glass and paper.  According to advertisements published at the time, he appears to have stopped producing daguerreotypes by 1863.