Early Photographs

Also called tintypes, cabinet cards, cartes de visite.

Typical period: 1830–1920

The physical format dates the photograph closely, because each process had a commercial period and they barely overlap.

What you are looking at

Images on metal, glass, or card-mounted paper, in various sizes and mounts.

How to date it

Daguerreotype — a mirror-like silvered plate, image visible only at an angle, in a hinged case. Roughly 1840 to 1860.
Ambrotype — glass with a dark backing, no mirror effect, also cased. Roughly 1855 to 1865.
Tintype — a thin iron plate, non-reflective, often loose or in a paper sleeve. 1856 through to the early twentieth century.
Carte de visite — a small paper print on card, about 64 by 100 mm. Roughly 1859 to 1890.
Cabinet card — a larger card, about 108 by 165 mm. Roughly 1866 to 1910.
Photographer's imprint on the mount is often the fastest date, since studio addresses can be traced in directories.

Spotting a reproduction

Modern tintype revival work exists and is usually on cleaner, more uniform plate.
Copy prints of earlier images on later mounts are common — the mount style and the image process should agree.
A magnifier shows dot-screen printing on a modern reproduction of a photographic original.

What it is worth

Anonymous portraits are extremely common and worth little. Value comes from subject — occupational portraits, identifiable people, outdoor views, military — and from the earliest processes in good condition.

Confused with

Later copy prints

The mount and the process disagree. A cabinet card mount bearing what looks like a daguerreotype is a copy.

Questions about this

How do you date early photographs?

Daguerreotype — a mirror-like silvered plate, image visible only at an angle, in a hinged case. Roughly 1840 to 1860. Ambrotype — glass with a dark backing, no mirror effect, also cased. Roughly 1855 to 1865.

How do you spot a reproduction?

Modern tintype revival work exists and is usually on cleaner, more uniform plate.