 Amber Necklace |
 Gin Glass |
 Neck Ornament |
 Irish Lady's Tresses Orchid |
 The Lennox Quilt |
 Fossil Crinoids |
 Madonna and Child |
 A Red Alga |
 Irish Wolfhound |
 Coates Family Photograph |
 Chinese Ivory Puzzle Ball |
 Early Medieval Tomb-shaped Shrine |
 The Green Coat, Sir John Lavery |
 Juvenile Bald Eagle |
Coates Family Photograph, Ambrotype, Belfast, c.1895
Donation
Accession number: Y391617
Length: 90 mm; Breadth: 80 mm; Depth: 15 mm (closed)
'Ambrotype' is an American tradename for an photographic image made by chemically stabilising a glass negative, then backing the side of the glass which carried the negative with something dark, such as black paper, varnish or cloth - thereby turning the negative into a positive (hence the ambrotype's alternate name of 'collodion positive'). This ambrotype shows a young member of the Coates family of Belfast, dressed in hunting gear with shotgun and powderhorn, particularly finely cased, c.1855.
The ambrotype process gave a one-off, unique image of great depth and detail, which could then be delicately hand tinted and made even more life-like. Because the photograph was on glass, it was enclosed in a protective case called a 'union' case. These were made of leather and usually finely embossed. Inside, the glass was further protected by a velvet cushion, which was also often embossed. The image itself was usually placed in a gilded mount, surrounded by a decorative gilt frame.
The process was invented in 1852 and quickly became very popular. Like its contemporary, the more technically-demanding daguerrotype, the ambrotype was superceded by the development of the carte-de-visite, by which method any number of small portraits could be produced from one negative. By the 1860s, the vogue for collecting such small photographs had been given a name - 'cartomania'. The ambrotype's day was over.
Comment
Vivienne Pollock, Curator of History
In the years before photography was invented and popularised, only the very rich and royal could afford to have likenesses made of themselves and their family. I love ambrotypes not only because they are often very beautiful, but because they represent some of the very earliest images of ordinary people from society at large.
