Strange Inner Glow: Evocatively Degraded Ninth Plate Ruby Ambrotype of Baby miniature shoe with laces is quite old

is quite old

There are at least four different colors of stain on the various wooden pieces

About 3 1/2" wide x 4 3/8” deep x 4 1/2" tall

are joyfully drawn stars and faces and lines

red lined cape

Strange Inner Glow: Evocatively Degraded Ninth Plate Ruby Ambrotype of Baby miniature shoe with laces is quite oldSuch a strange one! This is an foil wrapped, uncased 19th c. ruby ambrotype which, over time, has been transformed in what I find a quite evocative and rather otherworldly way, as if revealing this child's inner light (or its being consumed from within by a pear shaped ectoplasmic blob!) I especially love how the hand at left seems to grip and press into the side of the glowing form. There is no backing aside from a taped perimeter and the foil wrap,