A very unusual and humorous tintype I wish I had in my collection. This teen is holding a doll in his arm with a cigar in the mouth, and is smiling with mirth while doing so. The cheeks were tinted by the studio artist. This was usually done in watercolors or oils.
A little fun fact: tintypes are mirror images of their subjects, so you’re looking at the reverse image of him as he was holding the doll with his left arm.
French unknown sitter. Private Collection.
2.5″ x 4″. Bottom was clipped off.
A clean cut young man from the South of France. He reminds me of “Bosie”, Oscar Wilde’s companion.
Photographer: Albert Langloir. Rue de la Republique. Marseille.
2″ x 2.5″. Private Collection
I got this one for the copper frame it was in I intended to use for another. The scan of the seller made the subject blurry and I really didn’t know what I was going to get. It was a nice surprise to see the subject is worth keeping the frame for. I delicately took it out for the scan and promptly put it back in.
The inscription on top is the patent for the process: MELAINOTYPE PLATE FOR NEFFS. DAT 19 FEB (18)56.
The melainotype was the precursor of the tintype. It had a thicker plate.
Neck scarf wearing mustached gentleman of the 1860s-1870s.
A very nice CDV vignette of a mustached man -the first on this blog, but not the last -ba-dum-ching!
1909 Fraternity boy (?) Private collection.
This one did not scan well. The process made the dark parts look like silver, so I toyed with it some. Does anyone out there know the pin he’s wearing? I’m guessing a fraternity by other examples I’ve seen.
An adult wrote the date on the back in pencil, then below it a toddler (I strongly assume) wrote it again, also in pencil. :)
Photographer: Oxford & Dillholfk. Brooklyn, N.Y.
Bowlers And High Collars 