An examination and explanation of clues to establish the
date of 19th century photographs.
This Week's Photograph - October 15, 2012
Photo Facts
Photo Type:
Carte de visite
Card Size
2.5" x 4"
Card Edge
Straight Cut
Border Style
None
Card Color
Natural
Back Imprint:
None
Print Technology
Albumen
About the Case Studies
Each week a new case study of a picture typical of 19th century photographs will be published.
These examples can help genealogists learn the skills that will help date their own photos.
An estimated date (if one was not available) will be given with a +/- number of years it could be. Dating old photos is a science that provides answers usually within 2 - 6 years of when the photo was taken.
Cartes de visite became very popular in the early 1860s in the U.S. They were cheaper than cased images and offered a nicer picture than most tintypes.
Early cartes de visite photographs were mounted on 'bristol board', an early multi-layer cardboard. It was sold in large sheets and the photographer cut out his own individual cards. This one is fairly uniform and square, some are very irregular shaped.
Pre-printed, pre-cut cards were introduced about 1862 and by 1865 dominated the business.
This appears to be a manual, self-cut card. There is no imprint on the back which also was a function of the later mass produced cards.
The very thin fashionable collar was the style of the early 1860s. Her hair is kept in place in the back with a snood, another early and mid-1860s style. The long curled strands are quite unique, if not risque. They probably indicate the young lady is single. Variations of these curls were popular in the 1850s and enjoyed a popular resurgence around 1870 also.
Facial Tinting
The slight tinting of the cheeks and lips is carried forward from the fine artwork applied to daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes from the previous decade.
When applied very subtly, it enhanced a photograph with a soft and romantic touch.
As the 1860s progressed, the fine art of tinting gave way to more heavily over painting, which was usually not carried out very well.
This was very subtle, however not applied perfectly. It has flaked off over the years. The early tint material was a dry powder which was then moistened with the artist's breath. Later methods employed water colors.
You can become an expert at analyzing photographs.
Much of the information used in this 19th century photograph case study covered in the Identification Section of this web site. In addition, comparison to similar yet dated photographs in the Gallery of 1000 Images will help confirm the estimates. Even greater detail, organized for this type of research is available in PhotoTree.com's books.