Jean-Gabriel Eynard and Anne Eynard

Perhaps reveling in the daguerreotype's capacity for recording minute detail, Jean-Gabriel Eynard combined sumptuous patterns to give this daguerreotype an extraordinary richness of texture. He wore a boldly graphic dressing gown and slippers, and his wife Anne sported an equally intricate jacket. Her striped skirt and lace cap, the giraffe skin-patterned tablecloth, and the diamond-patterned footrest add to the abundance of ornament.

Madame Eynard's steady, worshipful gaze may reflect the devotion of wife to husband, or it may indicate her desire not to move her eyes during the exposure. She often assumed this pose--elbow propped on a table--when being photographed.