Although it is not known who the rider was or where this image was taken, it is probable that he is an American dressed in costume to resemble a figure in Latin history. According to sources at The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this man was possibly dressed to play the part of Don Quixote. His feathered hat, the chaps, elaborate costume along with a decorative lance all suggest that this was a nineteenth century interpretation of an important person of times past. Certainly the architecture and even the broom look to be that of either the mid-atlantic, New England or Northern California regions in the mid 1800s which would also coincide with the areas of growth of similar grape arbors. In any case, this daguerreotype is remarkable, if not a whimsical variation from the formal portraiture of the day.