Surreal & Rare 1/6 Dag of Couple with Disembodied Hand Emerging into the Frame For Sale

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Surreal & Rare 1/6 Dag of Couple with Disembodied Hand Emerging into the Frame:
$1599.00

At first glance this image seems straightforward enough: it's presumably of a husband and wife, posed according to convention like thousands of men and women in thousands of other daguerreotypes of the period. But a closer inspection reveals something startling: a disembodied hand is reaching over the woman's shoulder and fixing the man's lapel. It's clearly not his hand because the angle is all wrong. He'd have to dislocate his arm from his shoulder socket to position it thus.

In all my years collecting dags (over 30) I've only come across two images like this one, where a photograph has sailed wide

of its intentions and gets shot straight into the ether of a different century. Far from being a typical 19th century image, it seems grounded in a more modern practice, more aligned with the creativity and technical skill found in double exposures. Of course the photographer isn't a forerunner of Man Ray or even Jerry Uelsmann but there is something accidentally Modernist and surreal about this image. So the question is, what's going on here? The answer might be found in the early limitations of the medium. Because exposures typically took from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes depending on lighting conditions, it's entirely possible that this hand belonged to the photographer, or his assistant, who might have entered the frame to adjust the man's jacket just before capping the camera lens.

This is a totally unique image, incredibly rare. It would make a great addition to any serious collection. It's early, possibly mid to late 1840s based on mat and case.

The image was resealed at a later date. Has a tarnish ring and a Scovills stamp on plate.

Please email with any questions and I'll respond accordingly.

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