Figure 1.--This is the gutta-perca cover for the Dag of an unidetified boy. The case here had a farmer's dream\child in a dream case guta-percha cover. It is described as "The depiction of an infant perched in an apple tree, wearing a straw hat, and holding a stein with one hand and a scythe with the other is completely incongruous to the otherwise realistic barnyard setting. The shield-like center design only serves to prevent us from seeing the farmyard more clearly. The presence of the infant and shield can be explained in terms of a fantasy or dreamscape."

American Dags and Ambros were normally cased. These cases for some reasons were much less common in Europe. The cases allowed people to carry them on their person. The cases were wood covered in various ways, at fist with tooled leather and then with tooled leather and then with gutta-percha, a rubbery thermomplastic (1854). The gutta-perca made elaborate decorative designs possible. We usually do not add the csecovers i our HBC site because we are pimarily focus on the fadhions on display. There were many different designs which can help date the images. The case here had a farmer's dream\child in a dream case guta-percha cover. It is described as "The depiction of an infant perched in an apple tree, wearing a straw hat, and holding a stein with one hand and a scythe with the other is completely incongruous to the otherwise realistic barnyard setting. The shield-like center design only serves to prevent us from seeing the farmyard more clearly. The presence of the infant and shield can be explained in terms of a fantasy or dreamscape." The portraits seem to have been taken earlier and than recased with new mats and gutta-perca cover. It was a union case with the other side contained a Dag of mother. No doubt it was a cased Dag lovingly carried by their father and husband. The choice of gutta-perca designs suggests that this was a farm family or a successful city family with farm background.

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Created: 6:19 PM 1/6/2025
Last updated: 2:15 AM 1/7/2025