GALLERY

This is a daguerreotype of an artwork of Lajos Kossuth.

There is handwriting inside the case. It appears to read: "Kosuth for J P Gage From Portia Gage."

This is from the Jack Naylor Collection.

SIZE. Half plate, which means the image is 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

HOUSING. Very worn and cracked half case. There are pieces of scotch tape affixed to the outside.

CONDITION. Old glass replaced with hand-cut, high-quality glass by Derek French. Resealed. A few tiny white spots. Light tarnish. Most of the spots you see are on the cover glass. Very good condition.

APPEARANCE. Excellent contrast. The black on black elements work quite well. A nuanced image.

LAJOS KOSSUTH. "Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the revolution of 1848–1849. With the help of his talent in oratory in political debates and public speeches, Kossuth emerged from a poor gentry family into regent-president of the Kingdom of Hungary. As the influential contemporary American journalist Horace Greeley said of Kossuth: 'Among the orators, patriots, statesmen, exiles, he has, living or dead, no superior.' Kossuth's powerful English and American speeches so impressed and touched the famous contemporary American orator Daniel Webster, that he wrote a book about Kossuth's life. He was widely honoured during his lifetime, including in Great Britain and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe. Kossuth's bronze bust can be found in the United States Capitol with the inscription: Father of Hungarian Democracy, Hungarian Statesman, Freedom Fighter, 1848–1849. Friedrich Engels considered him to be 'a truly revolutionary figure, a man who in the name of his people dares to accept the challenge of a desperate struggle, who for his nation is Danton and Carnot in one person ...'" (source: Wikipedia)

PORTIA GAGE. "Portia Gage (March 15, 1813 – February 23, 1903) was an American activist and suffragist. As an organizer with the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Movement, she led demonstrations in which she and other women attempted to cast ballots in local and national elections despite not having the right to vote. Her largest protest encouraged other women across the country to lead their own demonstrations and revived the suffrage movement at the national level." (source: Wikipedia)