Martin Laroche [William Henry Silvester] (1814-1886)

PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN, c.1850s, quarter plate, gently hand coloured daguerreotype, in a plain gilt mat with oval aperture and photographers stamp and Oxford Street Address in low margin, housed in a side-hinged maroon leather case.

Martin Laroche was an early English professional photographer who successfully challenged William Fox Talbot's patent on the calotype and effected a liberalisation in professional practice, research and development that catalysed the development of photography in the nineteenth century.

Reference:

Wood, R. D. (1975). The Calotype Patent Lawsuit of Talbot v. Laroche 1854. Bromley, Kent: privately published. ISBN 0-9504377-0-0.