Pre Civil War Half Plate Ambrotype by Hopkinsville Kentucky E L Foulks Prototype

  

Ambrotype of an attractive young couple dressed in wonderful fashion with gold embellishments. Her complexion seems quite fair with His facial complexion tinted to appear darker. A rare type of background, a floating like image.

The beautiful brass mat is behind the image with multiple layers to give it a 3-dimensional like look. The brass mat is gold washed and decorated in a bird and floral design that I have never seen before. This fancy mat is stamped 5 times! 4 times with the name Foulks and once with the name Cooper.

The name Cooper was a man who learned the Daguerreian process in Louisville, Kentucky and travelled on the Mississippi River. This may be a one of kind Foulks prototype or this beautiful young couple were very prominent and well off in the Hopkinsville Kentucky area, this is my thought with the mat being overly stamped.

The plate is a half plate size housed in a worn half case with a missing rail. The plate without the case measures 5 1/2" X 4 1/4".