Opalotype photographic technique?

[SandyJ]

I've posted old photograph of my grandmother http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1626
which I think from web searches may be an 'opalotype' photo. It is on white glass and some of it is obviously painted. I believe it was probably taken around 1900 (numbers on back may be 1899) or it may have been taken around the time of her first marriage in 1907. She lived in Stirling but there is also 'Glas' written on back which might mean it was taken in Glasgow. Anyone know anything about this technique and whether or not it was common in Scotland at that time?

SandyJ

[SarahND]

Hi SandyJ and welcome to Talking Scot!

I'm afraid I don't know much about the technique, but what a beautiful picture! One of my favorite photos is an ambrotype of my great great grandfather Adam Stewart, taken in the 1860s. In my limited experience, I would think that 1900 is rather late for this kind of image, since by then other techniques had mostly taken over.
No doubt someone will be along shortly who knows more about this than I do.
All the best,
Sarah

[paddyscar]

I don't know much about photograpy, but have found some sources:

Online Dictionary of Library Information Science

http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_o.cfm#opalotype

opalotype
A type of early photograph, popular from the 1880s to the early 1900s, made on opaque white ("milky") glass, called opal glass, by one of two methods: transferring a carbon print onto glass or exposing a light-sensitive emulsion on the surface of the glass to a negative (click here and here to see examples). Also spelled opaltype. (This definition gives links to additional information including an example opaltype)

The Victoria & Albert Museum has an explanation of different photographic processes, including 'carbon print onto glass'

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsite ... cesses.php

Also:
http://histclo.com/photo/type/ptt-opal.html

Hope this is helpful,
Frances

[Currie]

Hello Sandy,

I don’t know much about hand colouring photographs but the technique for glass appears to be similar to that used to colour those with a card backing. A fairly quick application of colour to the clothing, more applied to highlights and jewellery, a quick application to the hair, most attention paid to the face, eyes, lips and maybe a bit of colour for the cheeks.

The beauty of the hand coloured photos was that they didn’t appear to fade and always looked like the day they were made, but, like a painting, weren’t necessarily intended to be viewed too closely.

If you search google images for opaltype there isn’t much there but you’ll see a few hand coloured ones from NZ showing similar technique with turn-of-the-century estimates that may be worth a look http://images.google.com./

A bit about identification, problems and care here http://archive.amol.org.au/recollections/1/3/19.htm

Hope this helps,
Alan