Magical Hand-colored Sixth Plate Ruby Ambrotype of PA Folk Art Identified Portrait Painting cast graphite hand it has since been taped

it has since been taped in a few places on the reverse side to hold it together

and an original Nickel Plate Road logo sticker on the opposite side

where the paint has worn away

as it was done entirely out of one piece of wood--and what a beautiful piece of wood it is (maple I believe)

Magical Hand-colored Sixth Plate Ruby Ambrotype of PA Folk Art Identified Portrait Painting cast graphite hand it has since been tapedCompletely wonderful and really quite magical feeling, this is a mid 19th c. hand colored ruby ambrotype of a portrait painting, the subject of which a handwritten note on the inside of the case identifies as a young Sarah Ann Sheibley, painted by her school teacher at the Sheaffer School: a Samuel Weidler Jr. A bit of searching turns up a several Sarah A. Sheibleys of Pennsylvania, and a few Weidlers who were teachers, and I believe the Sheaffer