Ambrotype by Mathew Brady

Half plate ambrotype by Mathew Brady. (Dismantled)

Portrait by Mathew Brady with preserver, mat, cover glass and half of frame.

The mat is inscribed with "Brady" and "Cuttings Patent July 4th-11th 1854". This relates to James Ambrose Cutting of Boston, who's patents of 1854 concerned the creation of collodion positive images on glass plates and the use of balsam in sealing the image to a sheet of glass.

Mathew Brady was one of America's earliest and most famous photographers.He studied with Samuel Morse, a pioneer of the daguerreotype process. Brady opened his own studio in 1844 and was renowned for his images of the American Civil War including some impressive 8x10 inch stereo images on glass plates.

Included is a quarter plate daguerreotype by W.H.White with inscription on felt inner case cover reading,"W.H.White Artist Dubuque", a photographer based in Iowa, U.S c1840-50s. Feint image of a head and shoulders portrait of a man.