Featured Antique photo - can anyone identify the mystery object?

Genius.

 

Thanks for sharing this. He has a look on his face like he is the cat that swallowed the canary, but what do I know.

 

My guess is the inner frame, with the flowers, is original and the outer wood frame is fairly new.

 

The reverse painted glass is probably old, but the surface of the frame looks like "Michael's", a craft store here in the US. Can't say I've ever seen any vintage frames like that, but if it's English, maybe. If it was an old frame, there probably would be some plaster damage. The black backing would be painted on or a black cloth or paper could have been used. Sometimes placing black paper behind it is helpful. Maybe put a sheet of clear mylar or some sort of archival plastic between the image and the paper to prevent any chemical reaction occurring, but don't seal it completely. At the Daguerreian Society symposium this past year, Sarah Allen (from the UK) spoke on conserving the Darwin family daguerreotypes, came up with a new "antique commandment". "Thou shalt not create a micro environment...!" It was a wonderfully technical talk. (My first commandment is: "Thou shalt not "gorilla". Basically, look at it before you wreck it. You can always "wreck it" later...)

 

I finally remembered who the woman reminds me of . . . Cate Blanchett! Right? When she playing one of those roles where she wears very little make-up.

 

this is a quarter plate ambrotype photo and the wooden box on the table is known as a brewster steroviewer

Brewster stereoscope
Contrary to a common assertion, david brewster did not invent the stereoscope, as he himself was often at pains to make clear.A rival of Wheatstone, Brewster credited the invention of the device to a Mr. Elliot, a "Teacher of Mathematics" from Edinburgh, who, according to Brewster, conceived of the idea as early as 1823 and, in 1839, constructed "a simple stereoscope without lenses or mirrors", consisting of a wooden box 18 inches long, 7 inches wide and 4 inches high, which was used to view drawn landscape transparencies, since photography had yet to be invented. Brewster's personal contribution was the suggestion to use lenses for uniting the dissimilar pictures in 1849; and accordingly the lenticular stereoscope (lens based) may fairly be said to be his invention. This allowed a reduction in size, creating hand-held devices, which became known as Brewster Stereoscopes

Brewster was unable to find in Britain an instrument maker capable of working with his design, so he took it to France, where the stereoscope was improved by Jules Duboscq who made stereoscopes and stereoscopic daguerreotypes, and a famous picture of Queen Victoria that was displayed at The Great Exhibition.[6] Almost overnight a 3D industry developed and 250,000 stereoscopes were produced and a great number ofstereoviews, stereo cards, stereo pairs or stereographs were sold in a short time. Stereographers were sent throughout the world to capture views for the new medium and feed the demand for 3D.[8] Cards were printed with these views often with explanatory text when the cards were looked at through the double-lensed viewer, sometimes also called astereopticon, a common misnomer

 

Thanks everyone! I like the idea of placing black paper behind the photo, but I'm reluctant to open it again in case of damage ;-). I took the photo down off the wall and have it sitting by my computer where I can see it. It's such a pretty frame, so even though it's most likely a later construction, I'm still very happy with it... someone must have loved the image very much to have built such a great frame for it.

The stereoscope is fascinating. I don't have any stereo images. Might have to start a new collection...!

 

Sorry to bring up an old post, but I went back to look at the mystery object again. The chat about all the gold made me wonder - is it a scale of some kind? Maybe he was a jeweler, thus all the attention to the gold.

 

I don't mind reviving old posts !!