Opalotype photography
Q These two pictures are oval vignettes of head and shoulders portraits printed onto slightly domed ceramic in a velvet frame. The printed area measures 140 x 90mm and there is a hanger and prop on the back but no writing. There are several copies in the family. We think the man is Robert Owen Jones, born 1837 in Bala, Gwynedd, Wales, who joined the Royal Engineers and retired as a Major-general. They look like wedding portraits, perhaps, but Robert married twice, first in 1866 to Emma Marian Dickins aged 24, who died aged 32; second to Harriette Deane in 1878 when she was 36. Harriette was an enterprising woman who took up photography herself and we still have some of her glass plate negatives. The question is whether this is his first or second wife; 1866 or 1878? We see ceramic portraits in European cemeteries but hardly ever here. It must be difficult to get the photo emulsion to stick to the pottery. I wonder how it was done.
John Sayers
A Having consulted with a photographic colleague, Ron Cosens, who runs the website www.cartedevisite.co.uk I can confirm what I suspected: these unusual photographs are called opalotypes – photographic images printed on milky white opal glass. Experimental photography using ceramic, glass and similar support materials originated in Britain in the late-1840s, but the commercial production of elegant opalotypes began in earnest c.1864, according to eminent photographic historian, Audrey Linkman. Audrey wrote a lengthy article about the format in Photographica World (No.80), March 1997. If you can access this, it will explain the various methods by which opalotypes were produced: for instance, two main types of opal glass were used, while varying treatments to the surface produced differing effects when the image was printed.
Producing opalotypes was not without problems, but when successful they were considered the most charming and exquisite of Victorian photographs: some experts even compared them to traditional watercolour paintings on ivory. Often they were delicately hand-coloured, although not in this case. Either way, opalotypes were expensive, luxury photographs, their heyday the 1870s to 1890s. They were usually framed for displaying on the wall and these velvet or plush (cotton velvet) oval frames are typical of their era.
Clearly these opalotypes are paired or companion portraits, created at around the same time. As you say, they probably represent the couple’s wedding photographs, but if the man is, as seems likely, your ancestor, Robert Owen Jones, b.1837 – a military man of some standing – which of his wives is pictured here? Although they are only short half-length compositions, the female opalotype can be dated closely to the late-1870s/turn of the 1880s. Key fashion clues include her fitted, front-buttoning velvet bodice with narrow ruched sleeves, circular white lace collar and smooth hairstyle. Robert’s appearance, while hard to pinpoint exactly, also accords with this date, especially his short braidbound jacket lapels and cravat.
In view of the late-1870s/early-1880s time frame, the lady must be Robert’s second wife, Harriette Deane, whom he married in 1878, when she was aged 36 and he 40/41. Since Harriette is known to have been interested in photography, perhaps these lovely opalotypes were her personal choice. Certainly they are still arousing interest over 140 years later! JS