Quarter-Plate Ambrotype

Quarter-Plate Ambrotype (1855 - 1865), 19th century portrait, vintage leather-bound Union Case, 3.25 x 4.25. Developed in 1851 by Frederick Scott Archer, ambrotype, or amphitype, hails from the Greek words "immortal" and "impression." These images were impressed on glass through a variant of the wet plate collodion process. They required shorter exposure times than daguerreotypes and were more affordable to manufacture, two factors which contributed to their rise in popularity.

Featured here is a 19th century Samuel Broadbent, bust-length portrait of a gentleman in a suit and tie. Bordered with an ornate gold frame with "S. Broadbent" engraved in the bottom left corner, the crystal clear image is encased under glass. Although missing the front cover of the Union Case, the back panel bears two halves of the original closure clasps. Samuel Broadbent was a notable photographer in New York, the Carolinas, Connecticut and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from the early 1840s until his death in 1884.

A missing front cover and the expected wear to the exterior of the back panel, otherwise fine condition.