Antique Photography: Cased Sixth Plate Ambrotype of a Female

This original ambrotype (photo on glass) dates from the early 1850s. The size of the image is 2.75" by 3.25". The photographer was Isaac Rehn of Philadelphia, Pa who was in business from 1848 into the 1860s. It has “Patent July 4th and 11th, 1854.” His patent seems to have been to use two pieces of glass and paint the back of the second piece of glass with black paint to bring out the features of the photograph. His cased images like this are rare. The case is missing part of its latch and has broken corners. The image shows how the emulsion at the top was starting to get eaten by microbes. Condition: See description. Measurements: See description. Pickup category timeslot {A}