Strange Victorian Eyes!

Regular readers of this blog know that I collect the early photographs known as daguerreotypes. You can read all about my daguerreotypes in my sidebar or here.

When I buy daguerreotypes, I consider many things — the condition of the image, the condition of the case, the aesthetics of each, and how interesting the subject matter is. Sometimes I'll buy an image just for the case, and sometimes I'll buy an image that doesn't have a case at all.

Recently, I bought a daguerreotype that was pleasing on most counts — the felt was faded, but the very simple brass frame indicated that this was an early daguerreotype, probably from the 1840s. And the sitter was an agreeable looking gentleman with a marvelous plaid vest.

The image is in great shape, the pose is refined, and the face and hands have been tinted. Here's a close-up of the face . . .

The eyes were obviously tinted blue, but the color has either faded, or was always too subtle, and so the eyes appear much lighter than normal. That gives the face a rather eerie look, I think.

The eyes get more interesting as they're enlarged because the irises are square, rather than round. My thinking is that the retoucher didn't make a circular motion with his brush, but instead made two vertical strokes and one horizontal stroke, thereby boxing the irises. Can my imaginative readers think of another scenario for this other-worldly face?
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