Photos - Dags Ambro and ?

Hi,
I'll spread the photos over a couple of posts.
I picked up this lot of photos, I think they are from the same family.
#1 is a quarter plate ambro in a thermoplastic case by Critchlow & co. (I've seen it described as the Gypsy fortune teller) the woman in this one looks to be the same as in photo #2 - also seems to wearing the same dress. The backing on this is just a piece of material and when lifted off you can see the image on the glass. The jewels she is wearing look to have gold paint, I guess to highlight them?
#2 &3 are daguerrotypes (ninth plate size), I think due to the silver/mirror image that shows on them.

 

#4 and 5 I'm not sure about. I don't want to open them up but maybe will have to, both are ninth plate size.
#4 - there is a tassel hanging from his hat in the front, some silvering along the right hand edge
#5 - her dress seems later than the others, maybe a tintype?
Any ideas welcome
thanks for looking

 

The first three... I agree... a family. That was her finest dress, I imagine. Really handsome people. I assume the baby became the child... little girl? With purse?

 

Yes, I think a little girl with a purse of some sort, hard to make out.
The thing that has me wondering is #1 is an ambrotpe which came after the daguerrotype, and in #2 the woman looks older - so maybe not the same person but the same family?

 

Butttttt... same dress? I can see #1 as having a bit more "baby fat"... maturity sharpened her features? Also, image quality is just not so good in #2. Hard to say. The dress just really persuades me, I guess...

 

Not the same dress.

 

EEEEK! No?
Well, I'll trust you, Mr. Fun. You are a detail person and I'm certainly not.
So.... different dress...

 

Take a look at the left sleeve. In the first pic you have a patterned white stripe coming down over the shoulder onto her chest area, that is not there in the second pic.

 

Also, if you look at the first pic. The white stripe pattern area is centered under her collar. Not so in the second pic

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
See? Details.

 

good eyes desperate, thanks!
Any thoughts on #4 and 5?

 

No problem. It is the photographer in me (unfortunately my inner self is lousy with a camera)

 

Somebody posted some great info on Tin Types and Ambros and how to id them. Let me see if I can find the thread (It was some posts by Figtree3)

 

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/whats-this-cameo-made-of-please.8462/page-2

A magnet may help you.

 

The union case scene is called "Roger deCoverly and the Gypsies Fortune".

 

Thanks desperate, I'll check that thread out!
Thanks for the full name kronos

 

I don't have much time to write right now, but wanted to comment.

In your top picture, the one you are calling #5 appears to be out of its case. Was that picture yours, or did it come from elsewhere?

If you are trying to determine between an ambro and a tin you can try a magnet on the front of the glass. If it sticks, there is iron in there somewhere. This is not definitive, because while it's likely to be a tintype it could still be an ambrotype. Occasionally you will find an ambro with blackened metal backing rather than the cloth or paper. If the magnet doesn't stick, that would be more definitive for an ambrotype.

Why don't you want to open them? From your pics it appears that they would both benefit from having the cover glass cleaned.

 

Another thing... I just noticed that in your first photo of all of them, the guy you are calling #4 is not in a case at all! So, if he's not, what does the back look like?

 

Thanks for commenting fig
Photos are all mine, #5 has no case, the others all have cases.
Yes, the glass could use cleaning but I'm hesitant to open these as I don't want to damage them.
Here is a photo of the back, the smaller ones all have the same backing.
I tried a magnet and no reaction to any of them.

 

I'm guessing ambrotypes, then.