Image Description:

Left image: 1/6 plate; Head and shoulders of a man with hair to below the ears, parted on one side, oiled and combed into a high wave at the center of the forehead, with a mustache, and a little beard just below the lower lip, wearing a jacket with a high velvet collar, a velvet vest, white button-down shirt and starched collar with standing points, and horizontally tied flat bow tie, with color applied to his cheeks. Right image: 1/6 plate; Head and shoulders of a woman wearing a dark, probably black, silk dress, with a wide white collar that lies out to the shoulders with fronts that do not meet, and drop earrings, her hair rounded out in a softer, longer style to below the ears. Preservers: Straight and embossed with simple pattern (after 1850). Mats: Oval with matte finish and simple embossed design (1850). Case: Thermoplastic with a common Two Bunches of Grapes design (Berg No. 2-24), engraved by Frederick Key and manufactured by Peck and Halvorson (see notes about S. Peck and H. Halvorson on pages 20-21 of Paul K. Berg's "Nineteenth Century Photographic Cases and Wall Frames", 2nd ed.), on both front and back, red velvet pinchpads (1852-1860).

Inscription:

(ink): Daguerreotype taken 1855 / in Rhode Island (Paper adhered to cover glass)

(ink): George W. Smiley (Paper adhered to cover glass)

(ink): Daguerreotype taken 1855 / in Rhode Islan [sic] (Paper adhered to cover glass)

(ink): Emma M. Smiley / (Mrs. J. C. Cole) (Paper adhered to cover glass)

(pencil): Miller B[illegible] (Paper lining inside case, beneath the left image package)

IMPROVED UNION CASES. / S. PECK'S PATENT, / October 3, 1854. / S. PECK & CO., / Of New Haven, Conn., / Are the sole manufacturers of the Im- / proved Union Cases, of which, the latest, / consists in the beautiful shades of color, / and fineness of texture, and of having / the hinges inserted in Metal ; thus pre- / venting the breaking out of the hinge. (Paper lining inside case, beneath the right image package)