Blog
Posts Tagged ‘ Cartes de visite ’
Ask the photo expert – governess ancestor?
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Elizabeth Cargill sent us her photo and asked:
‘I am hoping that you will be able to date this photo for me. My cousin was born in 1884 and I believe she was a governess. I have tried to research the company but haven’t found very much. Thanks for your help.’
Click to enlarge
Jayne says:
‘This is a professional studio photograph dating from the early 20th century. As the old carte de visite and cabinet card formats began to die out during the Edwardian era, new types of portrait photograph became fashionable. One popular style was the photograph presented in a cartouche-like frame on a pale or soft-coloured mount, as we see here.
The so-called USA Studios, whose name does not represent a transatlantic business or location, but reflects the growing British interest in American culture in the early-1900s, used this format frequently, although they were equally well-known for their postcard photographs, then also coming into vogue. I have been unable to discover precise operational dates online for the USA Studios, but they were a prolific photographic chain operating from London and many different towns around the time this photograph was taken. If you wish to discover dates for individual USA Studios branches, this information can be requested from the photographic website which provides photographer data for a small fee.
Turning to the image, we see a well-dressed young woman wearing the fashions of the late-Edwardian era. Her smart ‘tailor-made’ suit – the popular term for a plain tailored skirt and matching jacket – was a stylish and respectable yet relatively practical outfit. Many Edwardian women favoured this for everyday wear when out in public, for work and even for some special occasions. An attractive blouse, like the high-necked blouse worn here, and an eye-catching hat added a formal, feminine touch and completed the ensemble.
The hat adopted here – sometimes referred to as the ‘gateau’ style due to the wide crown, which is almost as broad as the brim – offers a great dating clue, as this shape can be dated broadly to c.1907-1912. It was most fashionable during the years 1908-11. Fitting on top of a full hairstyle, such hats had to be secured by hat pins and a pin is visible here. Unusually, perhaps, this lady also wears rather chunky woollen, suede or fur mittens – slightly less elegant than the leather gloves often seen in studio photographs.
Jayne Shrimpton
You mention that this relative is believed to be a cousin born in 1884 and this seems to be a plausible identification. She would have been aged between around 24 and 28 at the time of this photograph – the kind of age that we might estimate this young woman to be. Her dress and general appearance does not indicate any particular occupation or profession, although looking at her confident pose and direct gaze, it is quite possible to imagine her as a governess. Perhaps she visited the photographer on this occasion to commemorate the start of a new job.’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – mysterious carte de visite
Our photo expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
John Pettifer sent us his photo and asked:
‘I should be most grateful if you could comment on the attached photograph. As you will see, I have also included a scanned view of the reverse. I have written 1874-87 on this as these were the dates I found some years ago on a website for when RH Tear was in business. If these dates are correct, it seems unlikely that the lady was in fact Charlotte Kenyon (born 1800) as she does not appear to be as old as 74. Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.’
Click to enlarge
Jayne says:
‘Like most surviving Victorian photographs in family collections, this is a professional studio portrait – probably an example of the small carte de visite photographic print measuring around 10 x 6.5cms and popular from c.1860 until the early 20th century. This was the most common type of card-mounted photograph until the 1880s/1890s, when the larger cabinet print became increasingly fashionable.
Cartes, cabinets and other non-standard mounts were usually printed on the reverse of the card with the photographer’s name and studio address and in theory it’s possible to discover when a photographer was working at a stated address. There is a useful database of early London photographers – www.photolondon.org.uk – but sadly there is no entry for RH Tear of Kingston Road, New Wimbledon, S.W., perhaps because Wimbledon was officially located in Surrey until the 20th century. You mention that you have established his operational dates as 1874-87 from a website. I have been unable to verify this, but can confirm that the reverse design, displaying central lettering and filigree decoration was common during the late 1860s and 1870s.
Let’s look more closely at the image now. Ancestors visiting their local photographer would dress up in their best clothing and pose in a contrived studio setting with pieces of strategically-placed furniture and ‘props’. Every aspect of the scene was controlled by the photographer, who wished to create as attractive a picture as possible. The book on the table may possibly have been the lady’s own volume, but is more likely to have been a ‘prop’, used to convey a genteel impression and imply literacy, at a time when not everyone could read!
The lady’s appearance gives us the best clue as to when the photograph was taken, her layered outfit with flounced edges typical of the 1870s. During the first half of the 1870s, fashion dictated a protruding bustle pad behind the waist, with drapery piled up over the projection. After mid-decade, when the bustle declined, some residual fullness remained at the back of the skirt. Unfortunately we can’t see the precise shape of her skirt from her seated position, so the exact style isn’t clear and to include all possible years, I would suggest that we consider a date range of c.1870-77. Her hairstyle, dressed in a low chignon, is rather old-fashioned for that period and she wears the narrow day cap of a mature married woman or widow.
Jayne Shrimpton
I would judge this lady to be aged in her 40s or thereabouts, so, as you suspected, she can’t possibly be Charlotte Kenyon, born in 1800. The boy looks to be aged about nine or 10 years old and could be her son, or even a grandson. Since there is no male adult in the scene it seems possible that the lady was a widow. Hopefully the date range, along with these clues, will help you to work out these ancestors’ identities.’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – American ancestor
Our photo expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Bev Berney sent us her photo and asked:
‘I would be very interested in your analysis of this photo. It is mounted on a card which reads “Photographed by H. Skinner, Oneida St., Fulton, N.Y.” The card carries a US 2 cent stamp, which my stamp-collector husband tells me dates to 1862-1871.’
Click to enlarge
Jayne says:
‘This will be a carte de visite photograph, the earliest type of card-mounted photographic print to be produced by commercial photographers and one which survives in large numbers today. Measuring a standard 2 ½ x 4ins (10 x 6.5cms), this neat visiting-sized photograph print originated in France in the mid-1850s, from where the format quickly spread to other countries. Cartes de visite were produced in the United States from late 1859 onwards and remained a popular style throughout the 19th century.
I am not as familiar with American cartes as with English examples and haven’t previously come across postage stamps on the reverse of any of the US mounts that I have worked on. Stamps, however, can offer useful dating clues and the dates provided by your husband for the use of 2 cent stamps – 1862-71 – broadly fits in with the other evidence here. In particular, the neat, plain style of the photographer’s printed details, centred in the middle of the mount, confirms that this is an early carte, most typical of the 1860s.
Click to enlarge
I have been unable to establish complete operational dates for the photographer, H Skinner of Fulton, New York, but a general internet search yields further examples of his work on various random websites. His name also occurs in online histories of Fulton Village, which suggest that he was resident there by 1838, although he would not yet have been operating as a photographer at that date.
Turning to the visual image, we see a man seated in a photographer’s studio. In England, this close-up three-quarter length pose was becoming fashionable by c.1870, although slightly earlier examples do exist and the ornate chair and patterned carpet certainly suggest a date in the 1860s or early 1870s.
Men’s dress can be hard to date very precisely but this gentleman’s appearance is consistent with a date in the 1860s or early 1870s, albeit it a little outmoded by that time. His substantial, dark knee-length frock coat was becoming associated mainly with the business or upper classes and was a rather formal, conservative option. It is worn here with a matching waistcoat and trousers and a bow tie of broadly mid-century type.
His distinctive facial hair represents the early style of beard first worn during the 1850s and that involved the growth of bushy whiskers extending from the sideburns beneath the chin, but with no hair grown around the mouth. This ancestor looks to be aged in his 40s or thereabouts and we can be fairly certain that he lived or worked in Fulton Village, Oswego County, New York, since most people visited a photographer’s studio close to home. Hopefully these clues and the c.1862-71 time frame will enable you to positively identify him.’
Jayne Shrimpton
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Family photos: who took the photo?
Welcome to the second in our series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist, photo detective and regular contributor to Family Tree, Your Family History and Family History Monthly magazines, dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.
Jayne Shrimpton
Many old family photographs taken in a professional studio bear the name and address of the photographer. This provides valuable historical information of two kinds: a helpful geographical location for the family member(s) depicted and the potential for determining a timeframe from the operational dates of the studio.
Photographer information
Early daguerreotype and ambrotype photos may have the studio name and address embossed on the case lid (see fig. 1), or on a printed label stuck to the back of the case or frame, although sadly such details are often absent from these metal and glass plates. This is also the case with tintypes – see my previous blog for more about formats.
Fortunately, however, most surviving 19th and early 20th century studio photographs are printed pictures on card mounts – cartes de visite, cabinet prints and the occasional non-standard sized photograph. These mounts provided commercial photographers with a perfect medium for identifying their work and advertising their business. Sometimes the studio name and address were printed beneath the image and, most commonly, on the reverse, which offered more space for publicising the details of one or more studios, and elaborating on the photographic services offered, for example, copies and enlargements (see fig.s 2-5).
Relatively few cdv and cabinet card mounted photographs (around 5-10%) were left blank on the reverse. These types of photographs continued into the very early 1900s; however, the new 20th century formats that were gaining popularity tended to be less explicit. In particular, portrait postcards sometimes omitted photographer information altogether, although occasionally a studio name and perhaps an address may be printed on the back (see fig. 6). Photographer details are also less prominent on other 20th century mounted photographs – often a single line printed in neat lettering at the bottom of the mount (see fig. 7).
Geographical location
When photographers identified their photographs, naturally they specified the town or city in which they operated. This important detail suggests a likely place of residence for the ancestor(s) represented in the photograph. Customers desiring a photograph usually visited a studio in their home town, or in their nearest urban centre if they lived in a rural area without a resident photographer. There may be exceptions to this general rule: for example, family members who travelled around with their job or attended a distant college or university may have visited a photographer’s studio while working or studying away from home.
Alternatively, family members may have had a souvenir photograph taken while enjoying a day trip or holiday to a popular resort. Picture researchers can’t expect to know of every journey ever taken by ancestors or relatives but have probably established where they were usually based and may have formed some idea of their usual travelling habits. Remember that, ultimately, the geographical location of a studio photograph positively confirms that the ancestor or relative depicted was, on that occasion, physically present in that geographical area. This should help to narrow down potential candidates when trying to identify ‘mystery’ photographs.
Operational dates
Photographer details may be very helpful when attempting to date an unmarked photograph because discovering the main operational dates of the named photographer at the stated address suggests the likely time period of the photograph. If a photographer is only known to have run a particular studio for one, or a few years (see fig.s 1 & 3), then logically this suggests a close date range for the image. If he or she is recorded as operating the same studio for many years (see fig. 2), however, then this can only offer a broad circa date for photographs taken at that address and a narrower timeframe will still need to be ascertained using other dating methods. These are covered in my first and forthcoming blogs.
Photographers who expanded their business and acquired additional studios generally reprinted their card mounts fairly swiftly to include details of the new branches. When two or more studio addresses are specified on a photograph, determining when any or all of those studios existed can help to narrow down a photograph’s date range (see fig. 5).
Researching photographers and studios
Researching the photographer or studio named on an old photograph may take time, or can be straightforward, depending upon whether accurate data is readily available. A substantial amount of information has been compiled about some past photographers and their operations. Institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery, London focus on the work of eminent society photographers and well-known studios.
Acclaimed portrait photographers, patronised by royalty and the middle/upper classes, may have photographed affluent and well-connected ancestors and if so, researchers will find much information in books, gallery and exhibition catalogues and photography blogs and websites. Most family historians, however, will be concerned with investigating names from the thousands of commercial photographers who operated popular high street studios up and down the country during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some were short-lived or moved around regularly and left few traces of their activities but many established photographers were recorded on the census returns and may have advertised their businesses in local trade directories and newspapers, making it possible to track their operations over a period of time.
Sometimes it is necessary to consult original census returns and local trade publications, to establish when a particular photographer was recorded at a specific address. If using these primary sources, it is important to be aware of their limitations: census returns only show a place of residence every 10 years and, although trade directories and newspaper notices are very useful, not all photographers advertised in the local press every year, so dates of individual advertisements may not necessarily give the full story.
Local libraries and record offices may also hold details of photographers who worked in their respective areas and can be a good source of information. A few local organisations or individuals have published printed guides to past photographers in their city or county and some of the main publications are listed below.
Finding information online
As with many aspects of genealogy, the internet is a valuable tool and may well provide the quickest method of finding dates for a photographer or studio named on a photograph. A simple search will produce any online references to the individual or studio at the named location. Some links will be more useful than others but they should include any specialised photographer websites or databases on which the photographer/studio name appears – the results of research that has already been carried out and recorded for others to view freely.
At present there exists no handy complete online directory of 19th and early 20th century British photographers but several important photographer indexes and databases have been compiled by various national and regional organisations, local and family historians and independent photograph collectors and specialists. These cover the studios from a particular city or county, giving A-Z photographer listings with recorded dates of operation at each address, some entries also including additional biographical details.
Again, researchers should remember the limitations of the recorded data, which usually derives from census returns, trade directories and newspaper advertisements. Some databases and indexes don’t claim to supply complete photographer operational dates, while others helpfully cite their sources, in which cases researchers can judge their scope and reliability. Some of the main searchable online indexes currently available are listed below, while a full list for 2011 is provided in my book.
In general, they offer a very useful short cut and, although they may not indicate all the years of a particular photographer’s operation, if he or she is listed, they should provide an approximate timeframe for your photograph. Data for some areas of the country has not yet been compiled, however, so if a photographer’s details cannot be found on an existing index, or anywhere else on the internet, and primary research using original source material is not viable, researchers may wish to apply to a specialist website that offers photographer information for a small fee. Such services are also listed below.
Look out for the third blog in this series, coming soon. View Jayne’s website here
Fig.1 Daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet, London, 1847-50 - click to enlarge. Photographer details are embossed on the lid of this leather daguerreotype case. The London database, www.photolondon.org, records that Antoine Claudet operated from both the King William Street and Colosseum studios simultaneously for only three years, between 1847 and 1850. (Chris Cobb)
Fig.2 Carte de visite by Hennah & Kent, Brighton, c.1860-62 - click to enlarge. Cdvs and cabinet prints usually bear the photographer’s details printed on the reverse of the mount. www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Brighton-Photographers.htm records Hennah & Kent’s studio at 108, Kings Road, Brighton between 1854 and 1884. When a photographer operated for many years, as here, other techniques may help to narrow down the date of the photograph - in this case the style of the mount and fashion clues: see later blogs. (Jayne Shrimpton)
Fig.2 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge
Fig.3 Carte de visite, London Mutual Photographic Association Ltd, 1866 - click to enlarge. In stark contrast to Fig.2, researching the photographer named on the reverse of this mount using www.photolondon.org.uk revealed that the LMPA only ran their Fleet Street studio for a few months, between March and July of 1866. (Jayne Shrimpton)
Fig.3 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge
Fig.4 Carte de visite, Lowthian Bros, Grimsby c.1889-93 - click to enlarge. There is currently no convenient online photographer database covering the Grimsby area, but data supplied by the professional website www.cartedevisite.co.uk for a small fee suggested that this studio operated for just four years, 1889-1893. (Jayne Shrimpton)
Fig.4 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge
Fig.5 Cabinet print, Mr & Mrs S G Payne & Son, Aylesbury, c.1897-1902 - click to enlarge. When multiple studio addresses appear on a card mount, this often aids photographer research. A general internet search for the Payne family of photographers led to the website, www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk. This didn’t supply full operational dates for all three branches, but confirmed that the Tring studio only existed between 1895 and 1907. Other dating techniques, including dress clues, narrowed further the date of the photograph. (Katharine Williams)
Fig.5 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge
Fig.6 Postcard photograph, USA Studios, 1907 - click to enlarge. Postcards, common for photographs in the early 20th century, aren’t always printed with the studio details, although some information appears here. A general internet search revealed the USA Studios to be operational in many different UK locations, but this was of limited help as the particular branch isn’t identified. Fortunately in this case the date, 1907, was written on the back. (Katharine Williams)
Fig.6 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge
Fig.7 Mounted studio photograph, Navana Ltd., London, c.1929-37 - click to enlarge. Professional 20th century portraits are often blank on the back of the mount, but the studio details may be printed in small letters on the front beneath the photograph. The London database www.photolondon.org records the years 1929-37 for Navana Ltd of Oxford St, London W1 (Claire Dulanty)
Resources
General books including photographer information
The Expert Guide to Dating Victorian Family Photographs, Audrey Linkman (Greater Manchester County record Office, 2000)
How to get the most from Family Pictures by Jayne Shrimpton (Society of Genealogists, 2011) [Contains detailed advice on researching photographers and extended listings of databases and regional photographer publications]
Selected regional photographer publications
A Directory of London Photographers 1841-1908, Michael Pritchard (PhotoResearch, 1994)
Professional photographers in Birmingham 1842-1914, C E John Aston et al (RPS Historical Group, 1987)
Directory of Hampshire Photographers 1850-1969, Martin Norgate (Hampshire County Council Museums Service, 1995)
Through the brass-lidded eye: photography in Ireland 1839-1900, E Chandler & P Walsh (Guinness Museum, 1989)
Scottish Photography: A Bibliography 1839-1939, Sara Stevenson & A D Morrison-Low (Salvia Books & Scottish Society for the History of Photography, 1990)
Some free searchable photographer databases/websites
Database of 19th Century Photographers & Allied Trades in London, 1841-1901
History of Photography in Edinburgh
Victorian Professional Photographers in Wales, 1850-1925
Victorian Photography Studios…in and around Birmingham and Warwickshire
Early Photographic Studios: A-Z directories of photographers in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire
Directory of Photographic Studios in Brighton & Hove 1841-1910
Professional photographer data providers (charge a fee)
Photographers of Great Britain and Ireland, 1840-1940
Index of UK portrait & studio photographers c.1840-1950
Family photos: what's the history?
Welcome to the first in a new series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist and photo detective (pictured below), dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.
Jayne Shrimpton
What type of photograph?
Portrait photography is 170 years old and seven, even eight, generations of the family may have been portrayed in photographs. Yet many old photographs have been passed down without labels or notes giving helpful information about the date, occasion or people depicted in them.
Different types of photograph, or formats, were produced throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, each having its own recognisable features. Identifying the format of a ‘mystery’ photograph and locating its place in history is the first step to establishing an accurate timeframe.
Daguerreotypes c.1841 – early 1860s (most common c.1845-55)
The first commercial photography studios of the 1840s produced one-off photographs on a silvered copper plate, known as daguerreotypes. The natural successors to miniature paintings, daguerreotypes cost around one guinea each – expensive luxuries beyond the means of ordinary working ancestors, hence they occur rarely in today’s family collections. Being fragile images, daguerreotypes were protected under glass, framed in a gilt surround and fitted into a folding case.
A few early-1840s daguerreotypes survive, but most belong to the period c.1845-1855. After the mid-1850s they were rapidly eclipsed by cheaper photographic formats.
Daguerreotype in leather case, c.1847-8. The earliest studio photographs, daguerreotypes mainly portray prosperous ancestors. This lady is believed to be the wife of a Windsor property developer who served as Mayor, 1846-7 and 1854. (Chris Cobb). Click to enlarge.
Ambrotypes (collodion positives) c.1852-1890s (most common 1855-early 1860s)
The next photographic format was the collodion positive, usually known as the ambrotype. Another unique picture, the ambrotype was a negative image on a glass plate, backed with black varnish (shellac) or velvet to create a positive photograph. Like daguerreotypes, ambrotypes were mounted into a brass or pinchbeck surround and often protected in a case, or framed for hanging on the wall. The technique, devised in 1852, was widely used from mid-decade but its heyday was brief. Many ambrotypes set in the studio date from within just a few years, c.1855-60, although a few itinerant photographers produced them until c.1890.
Costing around one shilling by 1857, ambrotypes brought photography to more working people and they occur in a number of family collections.
Paired, cased ambrotypes, c.1860. Ambrotypes were the most common type of photograph c.1855-60. Affordable for many working people, these paired pictures portray the children of a Calcutta cabinet maker, photographed when visiting London. (Chris Cobb). Click to enlarge.
Cartes de visite c.1858-1919 (most common c.1860-1908)
The small carte de visite, measuring around 10cms x 6.5cms, was the first commercially produced card-mounted photographic print. Arriving from France in 1858, the carte came of age in Britain in 1860 and rapidly achieved widespread popularity from 1861 onwards, inspiring the ‘cartomania’ phenomenon. Convenient cartes (or cdvs) could be mass-produced and, being fairly inexpensive, extended to all social classes by mid-decade.
Copies were collected, given as gifts and exchanged, leading to production of the first purpose-designed photograph albums in the early 1860s. Any collection of early family photographs is likely to include cdvs as they dominated Victorian photography, remaining popular in the Edwardian era.
Carte de visite, c.1863-4. Printed cartes were the first mass-produced photographs and in Britain they became popular throughout society soon after 1861. This example is typical of an early carte. (Jayne Shrimpton). Click to enlarge.
Cabinet Prints c.1866-1919 (most common late 1870s-c.1910)
In 1866 the cabinet photograph was introduced – another print mounted onto card, but, measuring around 16.5cms x 11.5cms including the mount, over twice the size of the cdv. At first cabinet prints gained little favour, but demand gradually increased during the 1870s and by the 1880s they were a popular choice, their production finally equalling or exceeding the carte by the 1890s.
Cabinet prints, like cdvs, were still available in the early-1900s, even the 1910s, although surviving examples usually pre-date 1910. Together cartes and cabinet prints account for most Victorian and Edwardian studio photographs in early picture collections.
Cabinet print, c.1892-4. Cabinet prints, larger than cartes, were introduced in 1866. Popular by the 1880s, they were the most common card-mounted photograph of the 1890s. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.
Tintypes (ferrotypes) In Britain 1870s-1940s
The tintype, or ferrotype, is identifiable as a photographic image struck directly onto an iron plate. Like daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, tintypes were unique pictures but they cost just a few pence – their cheap price generally reflected in their inferior quality. Produced in the US from the mid 1850s, tintypes were less fashionable in Britain, scarcely being recognised there until the later 1870s. Never widely popular, demand for these modest photographs nonetheless persisted until the 1940s. Well-suited to itinerant photographers, tintypes often depict outdoor scenes, such as the beach or fairground.
Surviving examples may be framed under glass in a decorative surround or may simply comprise a thin, sharp-edged piece of metal: tiny ‘gem’ tintypes were sometimes inserted into carte de visite or other card mounts.
Tintype (ferrotype), early-mid 1880s. Tintypes, produced in Britain from the late 1870s, are often quite informal photographs, showing family members enjoying a day out. (Pat FitzSimmons). Click to enlarge.
Portrait postcards c.1902-1940s
Postcards offered a new card format for photographic portraits in the early 20th century. The first picture postcards had appeared in the 1890s, but after 1902, following the introduction of a convenient divided back with separate spaces for the address and a short written message, they began to be used for presenting photographic portraits. Portrait postcards could be posted, like other postcards, but often the photograph was never intended for that purpose, being kept for the image.
Both commercial and amateur photographers used postcard mounts and many examples survive in family collections, dating from c.1902 until the 1940s.
Postcard portrait, c.1910. Many family photographs taken between c.1902 and the 1940s are mounted onto postcards with a divided back. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.
20th century card-mounted studio photographs
Some early 20th century studio photographs are neither cdvs, nor cabinet prints, nor postcards. Large or small prints were sometimes mounted onto a stout card of a pale or muted colour – usually off-white, beige, grey, soft brown or dusty green. Mounts were typically much larger than the picture, the wide border offering scope for subtle detailing – often a series of borders or a decorative surround pressed into the card.
In time, as photographic papers became sturdier, some photographs were presented in a folder. Between the 1920s and 1940s the fold-over card was popular: this had pre-cut slots in its back half for containing the photograph, while the front folded over to protect the image.
20th century mounted studio photograph, c.1900. Some early 20th century studio photographs are mounted onto thick, pale or sombre coloured card. The wide frame often has borders or designs pressed into the card. (Claire Dulanty). Click to enlarge.
Amateur ‘snapshots’
Amateur photography has existed for as long as professional photography, but for many years mainly the affluent, leisured classes followed the expensive and time-consuming pursuit. In the 1880s, following technical advances, some middle-class hobbyists began to shoot spontaneous photographs for their own amusement and some of these 19th century ‘snapshots’ do survive. Most families, however, didn’t take up amateur photography until the 20th century. The early-1900s saw a significant rise, with more rapid growth during the 1910s, and most casual snapshots in family collections date from that decade onwards.
Amateur ‘snapshot’, c.1926-30. Casual ‘snapshots’, usually outdoor photographs, are common in family collections. Although early examples can occur, most date from at least the 1910s. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.
Look out for the second blog in this series, coming soon. View Jayne’s website here
Further reading
The Victorians: Photographic Portraits, Audrey Linkman (Tauris Parke, 1993)
Dating Nineteenth Century Photographs, Robert Pols (The Alden Press, 2005)
Dating Twentieth Century Photographs, Robert Pols (The Alden Press, 2005)
Family Photographs and How to Date Them, Jayne Shrimpton (Countryside Books, 2008)
How to get the most from Family Pictures, Jayne Shrimpton (Society of Genealogists, 2011)
Family photos: what’s the history?
Welcome to the first in a new series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist and photo detective (pictured below), dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.
Jayne Shrimpton
What type of photograph?
Portrait photography is 170 years old and seven, even eight, generations of the family may have been portrayed in photographs. Yet many old photographs have been passed down without labels or notes giving helpful information about the date, occasion or people depicted in them.
Different types of photograph, or formats, were produced throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, each having its own recognisable features. Identifying the format of a ‘mystery’ photograph and locating its place in history is the first step to establishing an accurate timeframe.
Daguerreotypes c.1841 – early 1860s (most common c.1845-55)
The first commercial photography studios of the 1840s produced one-off photographs on a silvered copper plate, known as daguerreotypes. The natural successors to miniature paintings, daguerreotypes cost around one guinea each – expensive luxuries beyond the means of ordinary working ancestors, hence they occur rarely in today’s family collections. Being fragile images, daguerreotypes were protected under glass, framed in a gilt surround and fitted into a folding case.
A few early-1840s daguerreotypes survive, but most belong to the period c.1845-1855. After the mid-1850s they were rapidly eclipsed by cheaper photographic formats.
Daguerreotype in leather case, c.1847-8. The earliest studio photographs, daguerreotypes mainly portray prosperous ancestors. This lady is believed to be the wife of a Windsor property developer who served as Mayor, 1846-7 and 1854. (Chris Cobb). Click to enlarge.
Ambrotypes (collodion positives) c.1852-1890s (most common 1855-early 1860s)
The next photographic format was the collodion positive, usually known as the ambrotype. Another unique picture, the ambrotype was a negative image on a glass plate, backed with black varnish (shellac) or velvet to create a positive photograph. Like daguerreotypes, ambrotypes were mounted into a brass or pinchbeck surround and often protected in a case, or framed for hanging on the wall. The technique, devised in 1852, was widely used from mid-decade but its heyday was brief. Many ambrotypes set in the studio date from within just a few years, c.1855-60, although a few itinerant photographers produced them until c.1890.
Costing around one shilling by 1857, ambrotypes brought photography to more working people and they occur in a number of family collections.
Paired, cased ambrotypes, c.1860. Ambrotypes were the most common type of photograph c.1855-60. Affordable for many working people, these paired pictures portray the children of a Calcutta cabinet maker, photographed when visiting London. (Chris Cobb). Click to enlarge.
Cartes de visite c.1858-1919 (most common c.1860-1908)
The small carte de visite, measuring around 10cms x 6.5cms, was the first commercially produced card-mounted photographic print. Arriving from France in 1858, the carte came of age in Britain in 1860 and rapidly achieved widespread popularity from 1861 onwards, inspiring the ‘cartomania’ phenomenon. Convenient cartes (or cdvs) could be mass-produced and, being fairly inexpensive, extended to all social classes by mid-decade.
Copies were collected, given as gifts and exchanged, leading to production of the first purpose-designed photograph albums in the early 1860s. Any collection of early family photographs is likely to include cdvs as they dominated Victorian photography, remaining popular in the Edwardian era.
Carte de visite, c.1863-4. Printed cartes were the first mass-produced photographs and in Britain they became popular throughout society soon after 1861. This example is typical of an early carte. (Jayne Shrimpton). Click to enlarge.
Cabinet Prints c.1866-1919 (most common late 1870s-c.1910)
In 1866 the cabinet photograph was introduced – another print mounted onto card, but, measuring around 16.5cms x 11.5cms including the mount, over twice the size of the cdv. At first cabinet prints gained little favour, but demand gradually increased during the 1870s and by the 1880s they were a popular choice, their production finally equalling or exceeding the carte by the 1890s.
Cabinet prints, like cdvs, were still available in the early-1900s, even the 1910s, although surviving examples usually pre-date 1910. Together cartes and cabinet prints account for most Victorian and Edwardian studio photographs in early picture collections.
Cabinet print, c.1892-4. Cabinet prints, larger than cartes, were introduced in 1866. Popular by the 1880s, they were the most common card-mounted photograph of the 1890s. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.
Tintypes (ferrotypes) In Britain 1870s-1940s
The tintype, or ferrotype, is identifiable as a photographic image struck directly onto an iron plate. Like daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, tintypes were unique pictures but they cost just a few pence – their cheap price generally reflected in their inferior quality. Produced in the US from the mid 1850s, tintypes were less fashionable in Britain, scarcely being recognised there until the later 1870s. Never widely popular, demand for these modest photographs nonetheless persisted until the 1940s. Well-suited to itinerant photographers, tintypes often depict outdoor scenes, such as the beach or fairground.
Surviving examples may be framed under glass in a decorative surround or may simply comprise a thin, sharp-edged piece of metal: tiny ‘gem’ tintypes were sometimes inserted into carte de visite or other card mounts.
Tintype (ferrotype), early-mid 1880s. Tintypes, produced in Britain from the late 1870s, are often quite informal photographs, showing family members enjoying a day out. (Pat FitzSimmons). Click to enlarge.
Portrait postcards c.1902-1940s
Postcards offered a new card format for photographic portraits in the early 20th century. The first picture postcards had appeared in the 1890s, but after 1902, following the introduction of a convenient divided back with separate spaces for the address and a short written message, they began to be used for presenting photographic portraits. Portrait postcards could be posted, like other postcards, but often the photograph was never intended for that purpose, being kept for the image.
Both commercial and amateur photographers used postcard mounts and many examples survive in family collections, dating from c.1902 until the 1940s.
Postcard portrait, c.1910. Many family photographs taken between c.1902 and the 1940s are mounted onto postcards with a divided back. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.
20th century card-mounted studio photographs
Some early 20th century studio photographs are neither cdvs, nor cabinet prints, nor postcards. Large or small prints were sometimes mounted onto a stout card of a pale or muted colour – usually off-white, beige, grey, soft brown or dusty green. Mounts were typically much larger than the picture, the wide border offering scope for subtle detailing – often a series of borders or a decorative surround pressed into the card.
In time, as photographic papers became sturdier, some photographs were presented in a folder. Between the 1920s and 1940s the fold-over card was popular: this had pre-cut slots in its back half for containing the photograph, while the front folded over to protect the image.
20th century mounted studio photograph, c.1900. Some early 20th century studio photographs are mounted onto thick, pale or sombre coloured card. The wide frame often has borders or designs pressed into the card. (Claire Dulanty). Click to enlarge.
Amateur ‘snapshots’
Amateur photography has existed for as long as professional photography, but for many years mainly the affluent, leisured classes followed the expensive and time-consuming pursuit. In the 1880s, following technical advances, some middle-class hobbyists began to shoot spontaneous photographs for their own amusement and some of these 19th century ‘snapshots’ do survive. Most families, however, didn’t take up amateur photography until the 20th century. The early-1900s saw a significant rise, with more rapid growth during the 1910s, and most casual snapshots in family collections date from that decade onwards.
Amateur ‘snapshot’, c.1926-30. Casual ‘snapshots’, usually outdoor photographs, are common in family collections. Although early examples can occur, most date from at least the 1910s. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.
Look out for the second blog in this series, coming soon. View Jayne’s website here
Further reading
The Victorians: Photographic Portraits, Audrey Linkman (Tauris Parke, 1993)
Dating Nineteenth Century Photographs, Robert Pols (The Alden Press, 2005)
Dating Twentieth Century Photographs, Robert Pols (The Alden Press, 2005)
Family Photographs and How to Date Them, Jayne Shrimpton (Countryside Books, 2008)
How to get the most from Family Pictures, Jayne Shrimpton (Society of Genealogists, 2011)