Ambrotype 1850's ? Completed thank you

[myfamilyhistory]

Hi Prue

Digitally would be much appreciated for the photo of the man

I dont have my camera so have taken a photo of the actual glass photo with my mobile but didnt turn out very clear.

It was put back together and housed in a special plastic wallet by State Library staff after they took a photo of it



Kate

[chinakay]

WHat you should do, Kate, is post the photo of the man in a new thread (because some restorers don't revisit old threads) and ask for restoration in the thread title.

The greater the resolution of the photo the better, and a colour scan is best. But if this is all you have, I think it will be enough.

You will have to change the file name of the photo slightly, because Rootschat remembers the name of every photo posted and you can't post the same one twice. Just add a letter or number to it and that should do.

You are very lucky to have these! Possibly the man's photo dates from a similar time as the woman's, but men are tough to date because their clothing fashion doesn't change much.

Cheers,
China

[jim1]

If you scan it the same as the other that should be fine.You are allowed up to 500Kb. filesize on here.As China said men are harder to date as their fashion changed at a slower pace,but I think this is earlier than the other one as it conforms more to the style of the 1850's with the plain backdrop & the subject looking square on to the lens.You get a good view of his waistcoat which appears fastened on the wrong side,a better indication of it being in reverse.
jim

[myfamilyhistory]

Hello Jim
Wow thats looks so nice. Thanks for doing that

The colours in the original Ambrotype

Would they have faded over the years?

The womans photo I scanned said it was too large so had to crop it slightly

Kate

[billkent]

Thanks Jim, I was hoping someone would slip in a coloured one...I've had this on my desktop since yesterday.

Bill.  

[jim1]

Hand tinted Ambrotypes don't fade providing they are kept out of direct sunlight.Glass is a stable material & that's why they are so clear today.Usually the tinting was restricted to face & jewellery but we have seen some on here that included clothing as well.
These have been coloured by Bill & me.Early Victorian young women went for very colourful outfits.
I'm sure you'll get others.

jim

[myfamilyhistory]

Thanks Jim and others

My ancestor looks great now in these lovely colours!
Kate

[chinakay]

Hand tinted Ambrotypes don't fade providing they are kept out of direct sunlight.Glass is a stable material & that's why they are so clear today.Usually the tinting was restricted to face & jewellery but we have seen some on here that included clothing as well.
These have been coloured by Bill & me.Early Victorian young women went for very colourful outfits.
I'm sure you'll get others.

jim

On the other hand (not to argue with Jim as Prue explained to us in a post some time ago, some of the colours used in hand-tinting were not as stable as others, resulting in some very odd effects. I seem to remember the photo in question was of a gent with a top hat on a table next to him, with some strange purple colour floating round somewhere I've tried to find her post but wasn't able to.

Prue is a professional conservator and knows quite a bit about ambrotypes (and everything else)

Cheers,
China

[billkent]

The other picture with a similar background to the lady's picture.

Bill.   Transferred to new thread.