"Elisabeth van der Plas" on RKD artists, at: https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/artists/record?query=Guyard&start=10 (accessed 23.8.2023)
<b>1843 */ Gand, Hôtel du Lion d'Or, then Rue de la Cuillère, 20 and Rue du Soleil, 13 (on Mlle Dujardin's premises)</b> Elisabeth Vandenplas, ° 28.1.1804; + 30.10.1887. Also transcribed "van der Plas" or "Vanderplas". Common-law wife of Jean Guyard (see separate entry). One of the earliest itinerant daguerreotypists and the first female photographer to operate in Belgium. She began operating in Ghent by 7 August: "Madame Guyard, coming from Paris, advantageously known for her fine daguerreotype portraits in a few seconds, and in colour, in cloudy and sunless weather, informs [interested parties] that she will stay several days in this town. Mme Guyard will make home visits for families, provided there is a suitable location: a courtyard, a terrace or a garden" (Messager de Gand, 7.8.1843). She was still advertising her services in Ghent on 16.8.1843. <b>1844 */ Tournai, Hôtel de l'Impératrice, Rue des Maux</b> Coming from Lille in April 1844, Madame Guyard stayed in Tournai for some days before leaving for Prussia. "Daguerreotypes plain and coloured". Later in 1844, she began operating with her common-law husband (see relevant entry) in Amsterdam, Heerenstraat 2, introducing coloured daguerreotypes there. In 1846 they proposed to travellers embarking for the Indies to take their portrait before departure. "Guyard Fils" in The Hague in 1847 (see separate entry). Madame Guyard was again in The Hague in 1848, Groningen in 1850, Utrecht and Amsterdam in 1851. Following her departure from Rotterdam in 1851, Madame Guyard abandoned photography. Elisabeth Vandenplas was recorded as a hotel manageress living in Paris at her wedding to a tanner, Alexandre Charles Erhard, on 30.8.1862. "Mme Erhard Vandenplas" continued to earn a living managing hotels or boarding houses in Paris, and was listed at the "Hôtel Vauban et du Square des Arts et Métiers", Rue Salomon de Caus in January 1871. On her return to Brussels in April 1871, no doubt fleeing the Commune and following the death of her elder son during the siege of Paris, Elisabeth Vandenplas was registered as a person of independent means, and of no profession at the time of her death.