Again these are from Feepay, they weren’t listed as the usual ambrotypes, but more of an “image on glass”. Now 90% of the time they turn out to be ambrotypes but this pair just didn’t quite look right to me on screen, so for the price I just had to get them and find out.
Granted they are in a bit of a state and one is cracked in half. They have been taped to their crumbling card mounts in the past and have fallen to pieces.
These are whole plate in size. At first glance I took them to be reproductions glued to clear glass but what looks like white paper/card is something else, like a layer of white glass or enamel. The images have obviously faded but where it has sat behind the mount its more original colour can be seen. They have even been tinted and touched up in detail areas…
Here you can see the thin white layer that the image sits on.
The surface has also been varnished at some stage.
Anyone seen anything like this before? I’ve nothing else like this in my collection!
EDIT:
Not sure if relevant but found this in Bostick & Sullivans Book of Modern Carbon Printing….
“One can produce stunning luminous im- ages by putting carbon images on white opal glass. Opal glass is highly luminous and transmits 85% of the light striking it. It is made by flashing a thin 1 millimeter coating of white glass flashed on to a water clear glass base. Some glass is sold in the stained glass industry as “opal” glass, but it is just an opaque colored glass. Bostick & Sullivan has tracked down the last remaining maker of flashed white opal glass, and now im- ports it for sale. Opal glass windowpane pictures were popular in the 19th century.“