Essay / Cinderella ID

I have seen this referenced as a Henry Van Der Weyde Fake, though I cant find any reference to that anymore, and this pops up on ebay from time to time as unlisted essay. there are currently 2 listed , one as 77E var unlisted, the other as and unlisted essay. There is an old auction Daniel Keller lists as 1871, 50¢ black, essay on decalcomania paper (Scott 137E var.)

I just snagged a rough copy.

I think declomania is correct, but I would not think it is an essay, rather a private issue. Does anyone have any other info on this?

Note the correct term is "decalcomania" ... or "decal" for short:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decalcomania

One of the similar auctioned items:



http://www.rumseyauctions.com/auctions/lot/40/1528

And its "non-philatelic" Patent:

That's what I call an exact answer, Thanks! I had found that he was a photographer, but could not find any other information.

Now if we can just educate the rest of the world.

Very informative thread! Thanks so much. I have never seen this item before in nearly 50 years let alone knew it's purpose. Now I do thanks to you guys!