Daguerreotype Preservation and Restoration
Allow me to plug the following: Dennis Waters, Fine Daguerreotypes. The Waters family is well know in the daguerreotype community for scholarly research and restoration services. Just take a glance at their restoration page and you’ll be amazed; I am.
A friend of mine came to me recently with a family daguerreotype that was in poor shape. I contacted Casey Waters on her behalf for the restoration. Casey’s response was swift and professional. I expect fine results.
Daguerreotype restoration is tricky business; I want no part of it. I seal my own daguerreotypes and I have a basic understanding of what’s going on but I am also confident in my ability to replace a daguerreotype if I screw it up. Vintage daguerreotypes? No so.
The resealing process is simple enough… I’ve seen period examples enough times to know that replacing the glass on the daguerreotype plate package does a world of good for improving the appearance and legibility of the image. When it comes to fungus, deterioration, cookie crumbs, and other extraneous adulterants, however, there are more potentially damaging procedures (see here) to follow. It is these procedures that I’m not willing to practice. I encourage you to do the same especially on a vintage piece.
