When was this photograph taken?
QThis photo was displayed at my grandmother’s house. The lady was always referred to as Great Auntie Thorp(e). We thought her first name may have been Annie, and that she never married. Thorp(e) is not a family name. A sticker on the back reveals that the picture was taken by F Lindsey of Mayall’s in Lambeth. The photograph is behind glass, and the frame is 6 x 7.5 cm. Could you date it for me? Lynn Ludlow
AThis is a collodion positive or ambrotype. Devised c1852, an ambrotype was actually the glass plate negative from the camera, blackened on one side with shellac (lacquer) or velvet, to produce an apparently positive image. The glass photograph was usually protected under another layer of glass, then set into an ornate metal surround called a mat/matte, as seen here. It was either presented in a folding case, or framed with leather-covered wood.
Ambrotypes preceded the main boom in portrait photography, so remain fairly uncommon in family collections. Studio ambrotypes, like this example, also experienced initial licence/patent restrictions and few were produced commercially until 1855; then from 1860 they were rapidly superseded by card-mounted prints.
We can date your photo to c1855–1861 from both the brief history of studio ambrotypes and the lady’s appearance: formal mid-19thcentury daywear comprising a coloured silk gown and outdoor bonnet. Key clues are the style of her gown bodice, displaying a pleated arrangement ( bretelles) converging from the shoulders, and the shape of her open ‘pagoda’ sleeves, along with her neat, circular bonnet. Jayne Shrimpton
1 COMPOSITION
This close-up, half-length composition showing the subject forward-facing or in half-profile, with one arm resting on a cloth-covered table, is typical of most early-format photographs: daguerreotypes and ambrotypes.
2 ENGAGEANTES
The white lace or broderie anglaise under-sleeves worn here (called
engageantes) were separate accessories, fashionable, interchangeable – and also washable, helping to protect the vulnerable silk gown sleeves.
3 OCCASION
This ancestor is young, perhaps aged between her mid-teens and the early twenties. She appears unmarried and possibly had this photograph taken to record her 21st birthday, an important rite of passage in the Victorian era.
4 YEAR OF BIRTH
The sitter was born broadly between c1830 and the mid-1840s. This gives you a solid starting-point for investigating likely names, including Ann, Anne and Annie Thorp(e).
5 PHOTOGRAPHER
Frederick Lindsey uses the prestigious Mayall name to enhance his business. Your ancestor visited Lindsey’s Lambeth studio, which was probably close to her home.