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| No photographer or case identification marks are visible. |
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| 1859 3 Dual Ambrotypes in Traditional Case (inside) |
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This case once had a leather hinge in the middle, which you can see has disintegrated. The hook, cropped here, is visible in the image of the back of the case. Each image looks the same from all angles, so this is not a daguerreotype. The image is not magnetic, so it is not a tintype. By process of elimination, each image is an ambrotype. -- Each image is printed on the top surface of a sheet of glass. The back of the sheet is painted black; it's that black that produces the visible image. Opening the case and repainting the back of the glass for the female should restore the image - if it is not destroyed in the process. Photoshop seems a better option, for my purposes. -- On top of the image is a rectangular mat with an oval opening, likely made of brass. Searching in "Fixed in Time," an outstanding, free, PDF book by Sean William Nolan, matches our mat to "o9_OpArt," which was in use from 1858 to 1864. -- Another sheet of glass sits on the mat, to protect the image. -- On top of the glass sits the preserver, about a tenth of an inch of decoration inside the orange-brown fabric, which appears to be the inside edge of the case. Looking in "Fixed in Time" this preserver matches f9_acanthus, which was in use from 1858 to 1864. The preserver, and therefore the cover glass and the image glass are 2.0 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall. This size is called a "ninth plate" size. (Story continues with the image of the outside of the case.) |