Ambrotype

A photographic image on glass where a positive print was produced without the need to print from a negative. An underexposed and then developed collodion negative on glass, when backed with an opaque coating such as black lacquer, appeared as a positive image. The process was developed in 1852 and promoted by commercial studios as a cheap alternative to daguerretypes and was used mostly for portraiture.

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Derwent Coleridge; Mary Coleridge (née Pridham), by Unknown photographer, 1856 - NPG P322 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

Derwent Coleridge; Mary Coleridge (née Pridham)
by Unknown photographer
1856
NPG P322

Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, by 'Holmes of New York',  - NPG P137 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
by 'Holmes of New York'
NPG P137

Sir Joseph Nias, by Unknown photographer,  - NPG P2 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

Sir Joseph Nias
by Unknown photographer
NPG P2

Luke Howard; John Eliot Howard (right), by Unknown photographer,  - NPG P784 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

Luke Howard; John Eliot Howard (right)
by Unknown photographer
NPG P784

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