JAMES PRESLEY BALL (1825-1904) QUARTER-PLATE DAGUERREOTYPE, a double portrait, depicting two seated young men, frame marked "J. P. Ball / Cincinnati", housed in an embossed leather case. Circa 1850. 4 3/4" x 3 3/4" OA.
Case detached at hinge. Image faded with slight scratches, tarnishing / discoloration to periphery.

Provenance: Property of Margaret Duncan Brown Maloney, Strasburg, VA, items descended in the Adams, Duncan, and Allan families of Hawesville, KY.
Catalogue Note: James Presley Ball (1825-1904) was an important 19th century African-American photographer. Born in Frederick Co., Virginia, Ball learned daguerreotype photography from fellow freeman, John B. Bailey of Boston. In 1845, Ball set up his own studio in Cincinnati and began a period of movement around the country that would take him to places as wide-ranging as Richmond, Virginia; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Helena, Montana. While in Cincinnati he collaborated with celebrated African-American artist, Robert Scott Duncanson, and it is during this period that the present image was taken. Family tradition indicates that the sitters are two brothers from the Duncan family of Hawesville, Kentucky, down river from Cincinnati.

Case detached at hinge. Image faded with slight scratches, tarnishing / discoloration to periphery.