This was advertised on Ebay as a Victorian painted portrait, which it is, but I thought it looked more than those first impressions of a painted paper photo portrait.
So I took a gamble as it was only a tenner. When it arrived I thought, excellent, it’s a whole plate painted ambrotype.
Sadly, it’s “just” a whole plate painted tinype…
This looks to have been varnished and then paint quite heavily applied. The dress areas are mottled which I first thought was mold but now I’m not too sure, is it the pattern of the fabric? Or is it mold?
As it’s been reframed there’s not much info inside but someone has written on the back of mount.
Always worth a gamble I reckon 🙂
A fascinating purchase from that eponymous site! It’s amazing what sometimes turns up.