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Finding Aid to the Cased photographs and related images from The Bancroft Library pictorial collections, circa 1845-circa 1870 (bulk circa 1850-circa 1865)
Various  
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  • Collection Summary
  • Information for Researchers
  • Administrative Information
  • Scope and Content

  • Collection Summary

    Collection Title: Cased photographs and related images from The Bancroft Library pictorial collections
    Date (inclusive): circa 1845-circa 1870
    Date (bulk): circa 1850-circa 1865
    Collection Number: Various
    Extent: circa 440 items (chiefly daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes) + circa 92 photographic prints (salted paper prints) 534 digital objects
    Repository: The Bancroft Library.
    University of California, Berkeley
    Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
    Phone: (510) 642-6481
    Fax: (510) 642-7589
    Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
    URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
    Abstract: Approximately 440 cased photographs and related images from the collections of The Bancroft Library. Included are daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes dating from the 1840s through 1860s. Also present are some painted miniature portraits as well as other photographic processes such as opalotypes, pannotypes, crystoleum prints, and selected salted paper photographic prints from the pre-1860 era.
    Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
    Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

    Information for Researchers

    Access

    Restricted originals. Available for use by appointment with the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Inquiries concerning these materials should be directed, in writing, to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library.

    Publication Rights

    Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
    All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Cased photographs and related images from The Bancroft Library pictorial collections, Various, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

    Related Collections

    To search for individual images from the digitized holdings of The Bancroft Library and the California State Library, please use the Calisphere   website and search for "cased photographs".

    Bibliography

    Barger, M. Susan and White, William B. The Daguerreotype: Nineteenth-Century Technology and Modern Science. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, c 1991.
    Berg, Paul K. 19th Century Photographic Cases and Wall Frames. Huntington Beach (Calif.): Huntington Valley Press, 1995.
    Fardon, G. R. (George R.) San Francisco album: photographs of the most beautiful views and public buildings. San Francisco:Chronicle Books ; Fraenkel Gallery, c1999.
    Krainik, Clifford and Krainik, Michele. Union Cases: a Collector's Guide to the Art of America's First Plastics. Grantsburg (Wis.): Centennial Photo Service, c1988.
    Palmquist, Peter E. and Kailbourn, Thomas R. Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: a Biographical Dictionary 1840-1865. Stanford (Calif.): Stanford University Press, 2000.
    Rinhart, Floyd and Rinhart, Marion. The American Daguerreotype. Athens (Ga.): University of Georgia Press, c1981.
    Rinhart, Floyd and Rinhart, Marion. American Miniature Case Art. South Brunswick and New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, c1969.
    Rinhart, Floyd and Rinhart, Marion. The American Tintype. Columbus (Ohio): Ohio State University Press, c1999.
    Nadeau, Luis. Encyclopedia of Printing, Photographic, and Photomechanical Processes. New Brunswick: Atelier, c1989. 2 volumes.
    Welling, William. Collectors' Guide to Nineteenth-century Photographs. New York: Collier Books. c1976.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
    Gold miners--California--Photographs
    Gold mines and mining--California--Photographs
    Miners--California--Photographs
    Mines and mineral resources--California--Photographs
    Mining districts--California--Photographs
    Photographers--California, Northern--Photographs
    Pioneers--California--Photographs
    Sacramento (Calif.)--Pictorial works
    San Francisco (Calif.)--Pictorial works
    Ambrotypes
    Cityscapes--California
    Daguerreotypes
    Group portraits
    Portraits
    Tintypes

    Administrative Information

    Acquisition Information

    Items from various sources, including gifts to the library and library purchases.
    Additional cased photographs are acquired from time to time and will be added to this guide, which will be re-issued with periodic updates. The majority of additions will not have digitial images available.

    Arrangement

    The present finding aid is arranged primarily by provenance. Many cased photographs in Bancroft collections are part of larger collections of family photographs, often received with family papers. Others were gifts of collectors such as Zelda Mackay or Margaret Schlichtmann. Although the entire source collections are not described here, the images are presented within their provenance-based groupings as series within the finding aid. Series notes within the Container List, below, briefly describe the source collection and indicate related materials that the library may hold, such as additional family photographs or manuscripts.
    Items that were not part of a larger collection but were acquired as single items have been grouped together as a separate series.
    Items are presented with a full description and a linked thumbnail and medium-resolution image. Many of these items may have additional scanned images showing details of the object or features discovered when the object was taken apart for preservation. These related digital images, when present, are viewable along with the primary image when the "view online item" link is clicked.

    Processing Information

    Processed by The Bancroft Library staff.

    Scope and Content

    Format, rather than subject content or provenance, was the basic criterion for inclusion in the present finding aid. While the core formats are cased photographs of the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s, related materials were also included, as described below.

    Included:

    • All cased photographs: daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes (ferrotypes).
    • Daguerreotypes and ambrotypes in frames.
    • Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes which were probably once in cases, but were found as bare plates.
    • Photographs on milk glass (opalotypes), and collodion positives on fabric (pannotypes) or on leather.
    • Painted miniatures: includes painted portraits in cases, lockets, and occasionally small frames.
    • Selected salted paper photographic prints made in California prior to 1860.

    Excluded:

    • Tintypes which were never intended to be cased. These generally date from a later period, often as late as 1900. Some are in paper mounts, others are just bare plates.
    As indicated in the list above, items from the Bancroft's collections described and presented in this finding aid are not strictly limited to daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes. Opalotypes (collodion or carbon transfer photographs on milk glass or porcelain) were popular in the 1860's and early 1870's, and were usually contained in miniature cases. Collodion positives on leather or blackened cloth are related to ambrotypes and have been included. Painted miniature portraits are often housed in small cases or in lockets, just as daguerreotypes are. The project has included such miniatures that were located in Bancroft collections. Their containers often have similarities to cased photographs, and they provide useful context in relation to the early photograph and the evolution of portraiture. Occasionally, photoprints on paper of a later date are found housed in cases intended for daguerreotypes or ambrotypes. Several examples of such objects, probably inserted in cases by family members of the sitters, were also included. Finally, selected early photographic prints on paper have been included based on their importance as early California photographs. These are the salted paper prints by George Robinson Fardon and by Charles Leander Weed, which all date to the 1850s.

    Subject Content:

    The vast majority of images are studio portraits. In general, landscape views, building exteriors, street scenes, still lifes, and other non-portrait views are rarities among daguerreotypes and other cased photographs. This is reflected in The Bancroft Library cased photograph holdings. While the focus of Bancroft's collection is California and the American West, portraits found in the collections may originate from any number of locations. In general, these portraits are of individuals with some associations with California families, or pioneer families of other regions of the American West. However, they may have been photographed at studios elsewhere in the United States or Europe. Sitters include men, women, and children, many of whom were California pioneers of the Gold Rush era.
    Non-portrait views are also present. They include important views of gold mining -- often placer mining in the riverbeds of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Views of gold rush boom towns in California mining districts are also present, as are early San Francisco and Sacramento city views.
    Project Note:
    The present finding aid was first created by Bancroft Library staff in the year 1999-2000, funded by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and technology Act. The project's goal was to preserve, describe, and digitize cased photographs held by Bancroft and to provide online access to selected cased photographs from the California State Library. Cased photographs were defined as daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and early tintypes, generally dating from the period ca. 1845-ca. 1870. The main goals of this project were to preserve and to provide access to these exceedingly rare and significant pictorial documents, many of which date from the era of the California gold rush, as the first step in the creation of a comprehensive state-wide digital collection of cased photographs within the Online Archive of California.
    At the time of the project, The Bancroft Library owned over 400 cased photographs, all of which were cataloged and digitally reproduced as part of the project. Later acquisitions have resulted in additional entries in this guide, although some descriptions are quite brief and most have no digital images available.
    The California State Library's contribution to the site was 78 of its approximately 200 cased photographs, which are available in a separate finding aid   linked to this one. Both finding aids are summarized in the guide to the entire project, but items can not be searched across collections ( http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/casedphotos/project.html ).
    Further information on the project and its procedures is available on The Bancroft Library's Cased Photographs Project website. 
    Notes on Descriptive Cataloging:
    The descriptions present in this finding aid follow rules set forth in Anglo Amercan Cataloging Rules, 2nd edition (AACR2) and in Elisabeth Betz's Graphic Materials. However, the specialized nature of the objects and the descriptive detail that was desired led to the creation of many local standards and descriptive conventions.
    The core descriptive elements, appearing at the beginning of every record, consist of:
    • Photographer (if known)
    • Title (usually supplied by cataloger and bracketed)
    • Date (usually approximated by cataloger and bracketed)
    • Physical Description (consisting of number of images, process or medium, format, and dimensions given as height x width)
    • Local Call Number
    A series of note fields follow, in which varying degrees of detail are provided. The note fields include:
    Content/Description: a summary of the subject matter of the image, or a description of the pose and clothing of a sitter in a portrait
    Image Package Notes: detailed description of the physical elements that surrounded the image as they were found prior to treatment and rehousing. The convention for Bancroft Library items was to list the original component parts, such as "plate, mat, cover glass, and preserver", then to make separate notes on each of these parts as appopriate. Case or external containment information was recorded in a separate Case Note.
    Case Notes: description of the external containment of the plate or image package. A containment may be a standard miniature case, a frame, locket, or any number of container types. In most instances a case is described, including the material from which it is made, the decorative motif present, and its exterior dimensions. If motifs could be located in reference works on miniature cases (see finding aid Bibliography for Berg, Krainik, or Rinhart), the plate number from one of these publications was cited.
    Other note fields vary by repository, but they may include General Notes, Biographical Notes, Provenance Notes, Administrative Notes, and Alternative Form Notes (recording the location of copy prints or copy negatives, etc.).
    The decision was made to de-emphasize formallized controlled access points for personal names, geographic names, and corporate names as subjects. The keyword search environment in which EAD finding aids are mounted made this level of subject cataloging a low priority, although standard forms of names were used within descriptive notes and titles when they could be located in Gladis, U.C. Berkeley's library catalog.
    A short list of topical subject terms was created for the project using terms from LCTGM and LCSH, and an authority list of photographer's names was created to ensure standardization. Portraits predominate, therefore special emphasis was given to terms for classes of people. Terms for children, young adults, men, women, aged persons, etc. were used with the hope that they would prove useful for those interested in dress or other facets of portraiture of these broad groups. While elements of costume are not specifically cataloged, it is assumed that those interested in dress can narrow their searches by searching by gender or broad age group.
    Controlled terms included are listed below, divided into terms used for people and those used for other image content.
    • Actors
    • Actresses
    • African Americans: used for Afro-Americans, black people.
    • Aged persons: used for elderly, senior citizens.
    • Authors
    • Boys
    • Children
    • Chinese
    • Couples: used for mixed gender couples of unknown relationship as well as husbands and wives.
    • Families
    • Fathers & children
    • Girls
    • Governors
    • Indians of North America
    • Infants
    • Legislators
    • Men
    • Miners: see also Gold mines and Mining.
    • Mothers & children
    • Musicians
    • Nannies
    • Pioneers
    • Pioneers -- California
    • Racially mixed children
    • Soldiers: used for men or boys in uniform. Most are Civil War soldiers.
    • Teenagers
    • University of California (1868-1952) -- Faculty.
    • Women.
    • Young adults
    • Buildings: see also Commercial buildings, Hotels, Churches, Dwellings, and
    • Cabins.
    • Cabins: see also Buildings.
    • Carriages & coaches: see also Carts & wagons.
    • Carts & wagons: see also Carriages & coaches.
    • Churches
    • Cities and towns
    • Commercial buildings
    • Diversion structures (Hydraulic engineering): used for flumes and other riverbed mining structures. See also Sluices.
    • Dwellings
    • Firearms
    • Gold mines and mining: see also Miners
    • Hotels
    • Lumber industry
    • Mining districts: used for landscapes or town views, usually in the California gold country.
    • Photographic studios
    • Sluices: see also Diversion structures.
    • Stagecoaches: see also Carriages & coaches.
    • Streams
    • Streets
    • Tents
    • Tools
    • Water-wheels
    Glossary of Terms:
    Ambrotype:
    collodion positive photograph on glass. The ambrotype plate is actually a glass collodion negative that is underexposed or bleached. It appears positive when viewed against a black backing, which was achieved using any number of materials, including asphaltum applied to the plate, a blackened metal backing plate, dark fabric, or use of a dark ruby or violet colored glass. The process was patented in 1854 and was popular in the United States until the middle of the 1860s. Like the daguerreotype, an ambrotype is a unique image, the plate being exposed directly in the camera, therefore not resulting from an intermediary negative.

    Types of Ambrotypes

    Clear glass:
    most common, with black backing to make the image appear positive.
    Colored glass:
    collodion on dark colored glass; may be red ("ruby"), violet, or blue in color.
    In relievo:
    the black backing was not applied to the entire plate, but only behind the image area. A white or colored or patterned backing could then be added to appear as a backdrop and give a slight three-dimensional effect.
    Cutting's Patent:
    a process intended to protect the image from water damage. The ambrotype plate was sealed to a second glass plate using a layer of balsam. The image plate's emulsion side faced the glass backing plate or cover plate. Usually, the image plate was on top, the backing plate was blackened with asphaltum, and no cover glass was used. Many examples of imitations or infractions of this patent have been found, with peculiar variations on the idea of sealing two glass plates together. A typical form of deterioration often visible is a fern-like separation of the image plate from the backing plate.
    Asphaltum:
    black tar-like backing often applied to blacken the backs of ambrotype plates. Application methods varied, and it can appear as a thin varnish or a thick coating.
    Bare plate:
    term used in the current project to indicate an image plate without its preserver, mat, cover glass, or other packaging. Bare plates were photographed as part of the preservation treatment process when image details were revealed that would otherwise be obscured within the image package.
    Calotype:
    see Salt Print.
    Case:
    usual containment for cased photographs, typically made of leather over wood or paper over wood, thermoplastic, papier mache, velvet, or sometimes tortoise shell or mother of pearl. They generally are decorated with a motif or scene: geometric patterns, floral arrangements, and historical or mythological figures are typical. Thermoplastic "union cases" represent the earliest commercial use of plastic, and they date from 1853. These cases are often mistakenly referred to as "gutta percha", which is incorrect.
    Case motif:
    the decorative pattern on the exterior of the case. In the Bancroft cased photograph project, an attempt was made to identify cases and locate them in one of four reference sources on miniature cases. (See Bibliography for works by Berg, Krainik, and Rinhart). Under Case Notes on each item record in the finding aid, a motif has been described and, if it was located, the reference source was noted, followed by a code or plate number, such as "Rinhart 135". Users should note that Rinhart numbers 230 and higher are found in their work The American Daguerreotype rather than their American Miniature Case Art, which contains the lower plate numbers.
    Case well:
    the recessed area of a case that holds the image, generally on the right side as the case is opened. Double cases have two wells, with an image in each. The image package is set snugly in the well.
    Cloth photograph:
    see Pannotype.
    Cover glass:
    protective glass covering surface of daguerreotypes and most cased ambrotypes and tintypes. Cover glass was placed over the brass mat and, generally, sealed to the plate with a paper tape around its edges. The brass preserver was then placed around this package. Some ambrotypes were cased without cover glass, with the brass mat at the surface. For the Bancroft Library collection, a protective cover glass was added over the mat of such objects. See also: Salting.
    Crystoleum:
    albumen photographic print (on paper) adhered to the inside of convex glass, waxed or oiled for transparency, and hand colored from behind. An additional convex backing glass may be added. This process was popular later than the cased photograph era, and examples date from the 1870s to ca. 1900 or later.
    Daguerreotype:
    photograph on silver-plated copper. This is the earliest viable form of photography, and its introduction is usually dated to 1839, although successful experiments in the process predate this by some years. It is named for Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (1787-1851). A daguerreotype is a unique photographic object, the plate being exposed directly in the camera, with no intermediary negative and therefore no multiple "prints". It is "wrong reading" (the image is reversed) unless it has been copied, or a reversing prism was used. The daguerreotype was the dominant photographic process well into the 1850s, at which time the ambrotype, the tintype (also called the ferrotype), and the paper photograph contributed to its decline. The daguerreotype process was largely out of use by about 1860.
    Die maker (or die-engraver):
    the maker of the die cylinders (or molds, for thermoplastic cases) used to emboss a particular decorative motif in the leather, paper, or cloth case covering. Occasionally the name of the die maker appears in very small letters on case exteriors.
    Ferrotype:
    see Tintype.
    Half plate:
    see Plate sizes.
    Image Package:
    term used in the present finding aid to refer to the elements immediately surrounding or sealed together with the image plate. The term is not in general use, but has been applied here as a matter of convenience. As a unit, the image package would be set in the case well. It may consist of some or all of the following: image plate, brass mat, cover glass, brass preserver, paper seal, and possibly a backing of glass, metal, paper, fabric, or other material.
    Image well:
    see Case well.
    Leather Photograph:
    collodion positive photograph on blackened leather, similar to a pannotype. In a case and under glass, they may be indistinguishable from tintypes and ambrotypes.
    Maker:
    see Photographer.
    Mat:
    brass mats are almost always present on cased photographs, and are usually sealed between the image plate and a cover glass.
    Melainotype:
    see Tintype
    Ninth plate:
    see Plate sizes.
    Opalotype (or Opal Picture):
    carbon transfer or collodion positive on white glass, known as milk glass or porcelain glass.
    Pad:
    the fabric surface inside the case cover, generally made of silk or velvet over batting. Velvet pads were often embossed with decorative motifs or the name and address of the photographer.
    Pannotype:
    collodion positive photograph on cloth (oil cloth or linen) blackened with asphaltum or similar black, waxy substance. They are closely related to leather photographs. In a case and under glass, they may be indistinguishable from tintypes and ambrotypes.
    Photographer:
    Usually, photographers are not identified on cased photographs. Some blind-stamped their names and/or business addresses on their brass mats, and others embossed this information in the velvet pad within the case cover. Occasionally, a pencilled note is found on the paper lining of the case well. Names of case and mat manufacturers or die makers are sometimes found on cases and mats and must not be confused with photographers' marks.
    Plate (image plate vs. backing plate):
    plate, in the present finding aid, usually refers to the surface on which the image appears: the silver-plated copper plate of a daguerreotype, the glass of an ambrotype, or the iron plate of a tintype (or ferrotype). The term "backing plate" or "metal plate" was used for a piece of metal or glass added behind the image plate, either as a black ambrotype backing or for strength. (Cloth or paper was also used for this purpose.) See also: Plate sizes.
    Plate mark:
    a stamped hallmark on a daguerreotype plate that identifies the manufacturer of the plate. Smaller plates cut down from whole plates may or may not exhibit plate marks. Plate marks typically bear a mark specific to the maker, and often a number (40) denoting the silver content. Marks are typically symbols (stars, eagles, lambs, etc.), initials, or company names.
    Plate sizes:
    Daguerreotype plates were manufactured to (or cut down to) standard sizes, based on fractions of the whole plate. (Other sizes, such as one third or two thirds plates were more commonly used in Europe.)
    • Whole plate = 6.5 x 8.5 in.
    • Half plate = 4.25 x 5.5 in.
    • Quarter plate = 3.25 x 4.25 in.
    • Sixth plate = 2.75 x 3.25 in.
    • Ninth plate = 2 x 2.5 in.
    • Sixteenth plate = 1.38 x 1.63 in.
    Preserver (Protector):
    the preserver or protector appears as the outermost brass frame around the image package. It is made of thin brass and is crimped around the edges of the image package, and is on the exterior of the cover glass. Daguerreotypes prior to the late 1840s generally did not have preservers, but they may also be lacking from later examples.
    Protector:
    see Preserver.
    Quarter plate:
    see Plate sizes.
    Rail:
    the edges of the case and case cover, framing the image package or the pad.
    Salted paper print (Salted paper photograph or salt print):
    early form of photographic print on paper, pre-dating the albumen print which was predominant in the 19th century. More common in England and Europe in the 1840s, most American examples date from the mid-1850s to early 1860s. Early European examples, termed Calotypes or Talbotypes (invented by William Henry Fox Talbot), were printed from waxed paper negatives. Examples from the American West of the 1850s were usually printed from wet collodion glass negatives.
    Salting:
    typical deterioration obscuring daguerreotypes. Salting may have the appearance of beads of moisture (or "weeping") or of a dry, crystaline substance inside the cover glass. It is the result of condensation (resulting from temperature and humidity changes) interacting with the glass, and is generally composed of silica and sodium hydroxide. (See Barger and White, p. 175-181.) Usually it is on the cover glass and not the plate and can be easily removed by a conservator, although it can cause damage to the plate itself.
    Seal:
    generally, strips of paper adhered with glue or paste around the edges of plates and cover glass to seal the image from the atmosphere. Sealing prevents tarnishing of daguerreotype plates. Original seals are often made from writing paper and may have fragments of annotations or other text on them. Archival filmoplast seals have been used to reseal image packages in the Bancroft Library collection.
    Sixteenth plate:
    see Plate sizes.
    Sixth plate:
    see Plate sizes.
    Tintype (or Ferrotype):
    collodion positive photograph on an iron plate. The process dates from the mid-1850s and, in different variations, was popular in the United States well into the 20th century. Given that the plate is iron and not tin, "ferrotype" is the technically accurate term. However, common usage in the United States is "tintype", and this is therefore the term preferred by the Library of Congress and in the present finding aid. The earliest American tintypes often bore "melainotype" or "Neff's Patent" markings on the plate. Like the daguerreotype and ambrotype, the tintype was a unique image, the plate being exposed directly in the camera, therefore not resulting from an intermediary negative.
    Union case:
    common name for thermoplastic miniature cases, used generically for this type of case. These cases are somtimes incorrectly called "gutta-percha" cases.
    Well:
    see Case well.
    Weeping glass:
    see Salting.
    Whole plate:
    see Plate sizes.