Belgian Photographhy Types: Albumen Process


Figure 1.--This Belgian cabinet card shows three very young siblings we would guess are about 1-5 years old. The baby and girl wear white dresses. The boy wears a coordinated jacket with romper pants. I supose you could call it a romper suit, but it is unlike any romper suit we have seen before. Other romper syuirs had blouse tops rather than a jacket like this one. The girl has a doll and the boy a toy gun. It was taken in March 1883. The studio was Nestor Schaffers in Gand/Ghent. The identificatioin of Gand confused us. It was French for Gent. The configuration of the studio information at the bottom was unusual. Notice the light-brown/tan color of the mount. That is a color we don't see being used for American mounts at the time.

The albumen photographic process was developed in the 1850s , primarily in France. The first commercial format was the carte de visit (CDV). The card was a small format close to the size of a calling card. It was a revolution in photography, basically solving many of the problems of the early formats. The CDV was in expensice, could be conviently archived (albums), and beause it was a negative-based system, multiple copies could be made to send to family and friends. It was not, however, for some reason not an immediate sucess. Suddenly arounf 1860 this changed. A CDV portarit of French Emperor Napoleon III appears to have had a huge impact. Another factor in the popularity of the CDV was that you could purchase portraits of important people. And in an age before movies, television, or even many images in newspaper and magazines, these images were very popular. Very early in the 1860s, the albumen CDV became the standard photographic format in Europe and America. This of course included Belgium. A few years later, the caninet card appeared which was basicakly just a large CDV (about 1866). Suddenly we have large numbers of CDVs and cabinet cards providing an unparalelled number of images, although we have found very few dated images to archive. Differences in the characteristics of the mounts help us to date the portaits. This is why we look for dated images to archive here. Once we can date the various chracteristics, we can then date the many cards that are not dated. We notice some Belgian cards with caracteristics we have not noted before.

Albumen Process

The albumen photographic process was developed in the 1850s , primarily in France. The first commercial format was the carte de visit (CDV). The card was a small format close to the size of a calling card. It was a revolution in photography, basically solving many of the problems of the early formats. The CDV was in expensice, could be conviently archived (albums), and beause it was a negative-based system, multiple copies could be made to send to family and friends. It was not, however, for some reason not an immediate sucess. Suddenly around 1860 this changed. A CDV portarit of French Emperor Napoleon III appears to have had a huge impact. Another factor in the popularity of the CDV was that you could purchase portraits of important people. And in an age before movies, television, or even many images in newspaper and magazines, these images were very popular. Very early in the 1860s, the albumen CDV became the standard photographic format in Europe and America. This of course included Belgium. A few years later, the caninet card appeared which was basically just a large CDV (about 1866).

Belgian Trends

Belgium is a small country, but it was one of the most heavily imdudtrialized countries in Europe. The prosperous economy meant that the country has a substantial photograpic record. Suddenly with the popularity of the CDV beginning about 1860 we have large numbers of Belgian CDVs and cabinet cards providing an unparalelled number of images, although we have found very few dated Belgian 19th centuru images to archive. We assume that as in other countries the CDV became an important photographic type about 1860 and the cabinent card appeared about 1866, but in several European countries, the cabinet card continue to be more important than it was in America where it was rapidly replaced by the cabinet card. Unfortunately we do not yet have sufficent dated Belgian 19th century portraits to substantiate just bwhat was occuring in the country.

Dating Portraits

Differences in the characteristics of the mounts help us to date the portaits. This is why we look for dated images to archive here. Once we can date the various chracteristics, we can then date the many cards that are not dated. We notice some Belgian cards with caracteristics we have not noted before.







HBC






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Created: 12:04 AM 6/4/2019
Last updated: 12:04 AM 6/4/2019