Photograph
19th Century (made)
Artist/Maker |
Also known as an ambrotype, the collodion positive was invented by F. Scott Archer in 1822, and was in widespread use by the mid-1850s. To produce a collodion positive, a sheet of glass is hand-coated with a thin film of collodion (guncotton dissolved in ether) containing potassium iodide, and sensitised to the light with silver nitrate to create a collodion negative. The back is then painted black or covered with a piece of dark cardboard or cloth in order to achieve the effect of a positive image.
This collodion positive shows a bust length portrait of a man, contained in a gilt frame with an oval window.
This collodion positive shows a bust length portrait of a man, contained in a gilt frame with an oval window.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | collodion positive |
Brief description | Mount Stamped: Cooke and Emerson's patent applied for, Providence R.I.; Anon. Portrait of a man, oval, bust length |
Physical description | Bust length portrait of a man in gilt metal frame. Rectangular frame with oval window. |
Dimensions |
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Summary | Also known as an ambrotype, the collodion positive was invented by F. Scott Archer in 1822, and was in widespread use by the mid-1850s. To produce a collodion positive, a sheet of glass is hand-coated with a thin film of collodion (guncotton dissolved in ether) containing potassium iodide, and sensitised to the light with silver nitrate to create a collodion negative. The back is then painted black or covered with a piece of dark cardboard or cloth in order to achieve the effect of a positive image. This collodion positive shows a bust length portrait of a man, contained in a gilt frame with an oval window. |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.1165-1992 |
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Record created | June 4, 2008 |
Record URL |
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