Spain: n/a, 1850. A nice example of a Spanish ambrotype photograph. The image is a 2.5 x 2 inches (quarter plate) glass plate held in a gold coloured soft metal frame (3 inches by 2.5 inches) This in turn is held in a leather backing (with some rubbing). some slight surface scratching to the protective glass and a slight darkening to the outside of the photograph. Came from a Spanish collection.
Ambrotype also known as a collodion positive in the UK, is a positive photograph on glass. Each is a unique original that could only be duplicated by using a camera to copy it. Developed circa 1850, by the mid 1860's Tintype and Albumen photographs had superseded the process