Sold for $5,000

Half plate daguerreotype with hand coloring. (Strong clarity, hairline abrasion running through the right side of the face, few other surface abrasions/wipes, light tarnish to edges.) Housed in full case with mother-of-pearl inlay (significant damage to case, mother-of-pearl flower detached from case cover, interior and exterior wear to hinge, mat preserver damaged).

Studio portrait of an antebellum Marine officer in full dress identified on satin pad as "Lieut. R.L. Browning. / Cincinnati, Ohio." Details are pristine including, presumably, the parchment commission document he is holding in his white gloved hand. He poses with a ubiquitous Marine Mameluke dress saber cradled upside down so that the underside of the hilt with ivory grips is just visible. The rare rectangular Model 1842 "USM" belt plate on stippled field (Gavin FIGURE 185, p. 234) is noteworthy, along with the delicate red tinting on the sash.

R.L. Browning was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the Marine Corps on 24 November 1852. This daguerreotype almost certainly dates to 1852-1853 corresponding to Browning's commission as 2nd lieutenant. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on 29 November 1858 and was lost in the Pacific with the ship USS Levant in 1860. The tragic history behind this young officer is both significant and compelling as the mysterious loss of the USS Levant was never satisfactorily explained.