Figure 1.-- Here we see David Platt, a northern boy during the Civil War. We know nothing about his family, but the fact two portaits were taken at one sitting and he is dressed smartly suggests he came from an afflient family. Put the cursor on the imge for a close-up of David and his dog.

Here we have 2 1/6 Plate and 1/9 plate Ruby Ambrotypes of David Platt. He looks to be about 10 years old. In the 1/6 Plate image he is holding his dog, a great looking mutt. Notice how he is holding the dog tight. This was necessary to get the dog to sit still for the shot. Slow film speeds mean that any motion would have ruined the portrit. We are guessing that David insisted on having the pooch in the portrait, In the 1/9 Plate he is holding his hat for the photo, although we can not make out much of the hat. Both ambrotypes have a tax stamp on the back, dating them to the Civ War era. The 1/6 Plate image sits in a two-tone American Eagle case. In both images, the boy's cheeks are tinted. The boys wear a rather bloucey jacket with a small white collar and bow. He has stripped pants, probably long trousers.

The Boy

Here we have 2 1/6 Plate and 1/9 plate Ruby Ambrotypes of David Platt. David looks to be about 10 years old. Unfortunately we know nothing about him and his family. We can guess that a family that could afford two portaits of a child in a single setting was fairly well to do. And David is dressed smartly.

The Pooch

In the 1/6 Plate image he is holding his dog, a great looking mutt. Notice how he is holding the dog tight. This was necessary to get the dog to sit still for the shot. Slow film speeds mean that any motion would have ruined the portrit. We are guessing that David insisted on having the pooch in the portit. So often people in these old portraits look so different. Here the boy's obvious attachment to his dog shows how much we share with previous generations.

The Portrait

The two portraits here look to have been taken at the same time. David looks the same and is wearing the same clothes. The 1/6 Plate image sits in a two-tone American Eagle case. This means that the outside case design is a rmpant American eagle. In both images, the boy's cheeks are tinted.

Ambrotypes

The portaits here are ambrotypes. The ambrotype was a less expensive alternative to the daguerreotype. By the 1850s it had become the dominant form of photographic portraiture. Frederick Scott Archer improved the calotype and invented the "wet collodin" negative. A glass plate was cleaned and iodized collodin was poured onto it, then it was immersed in a silver-nitrate bath. This was put into the camera while still wet, and the development had to be performed before it dried. A variation of the "wet collodin" was the ambrotype. The ambrotype is an underexposed wet-collodin negative on glass. Ambrotypes were mounted against black backing appearing like a positive, but did not have the tonal range of a Daguerreotype and could not be duplicated. The tintype was a variant of the ambrotype (Ferrotype or Melaninotype). It produced positive images usually on a thin sheet of iron. This process was easier, cheaper, and unbreakable compared to the ambrotype, but lacked the tonal range. Ambrotypes, tintypes made the Daguerreotype a dead art. These forms eventually became dead arts also with the development of the dry plate process and negatives.

Chronology

Both ambrotypes have green 3 cent revenue (proprietary) stamp on the back, dating them to the 1860s Civil War era. These stamps were required during 1864-66. Ambrotypes were especially common in the 1850s. They rapidly declined in popularity in the 1860s after the appearance of CDVs. The two portraits here show that they were still being made in the mid-1860s.

Revenue Stamps

We are constantly looking for any indicators from specific countries which may help provide clues on dates. So far we have only found one such indicator. There is one useful American indicator, albeit for only a short period. The U.S. Federal Government to help finance the Civil War approved a 3 cents tax on all photographs sold in the United States from September 1, 1864 to August 1, 1866. This is a period at the end of the War and a little over a year after the War. Because money was involved, the presence of these stamps is definitive confirmation that the stamp was used during this 2-year period. Photographers had to charge for the revenue stamp. This was only a short period, but it does help date the portraits with these stamps. The one thing we do not know is how extensively photographrs complied. Once the stamp was on there we assume that it would stay well afixed or leave a mark where it was removed. So we have a very good indicator for about a 2-year period in the mid-1860s in the northern states and areas controlled by Federal forces. The photographer was susposed to cancel the stamp by initialing it. Some may even have dates.

> Figure 2.-- Here we see David without his dog. He looks to be wearing a short-cut jacket with a smsll white collar. Note the jaunty bow. We do not know what colors the grments were.

Location

We have no information on where Dabid lived. It is a reasonable guess, however, that he lived in the north. The Federal blockade of southern ports made photographic chemicals hard to obtain. There were photographers who operated in the South, bit he mumber of southern images is much more limited than northern images. Of course the Federal revenue stamps confirm that the portraits were taken in the north, or northern occupied area.

Clothing

David is holding his hat (figure 2). Most of it is cropped out of the portrait so we do not know just what sort of ht he wore. David weara a rather bloucey jacket with a small white collar and jaunty bow. The jacket is cut quite short. It looks new, perhaps purchased especially for the portrait. He has stripped pants, probably long trousers.

Created: 2:43 AM 3/12/2006
Last edited: 2:43 AM 3/12/2006