Whole Plate Ambrotype · Gilt-Heightened Victorian Portrait · Tunbridge Wells c.1858
A rare whole plate ambrotype portrait of a young Victorian woman, beautifully hand-heightened in gold and preserved in its original period wooden frame bearing the photographer's studio label of Pace & Mann of Tunbridge Wells.
Hand-Coloured · Pace & Mann · Original Frame
Item Details
Photographer: PACE & MANN, photographic artists of Tunbridge Wells.
Title: Whole plate ambrotype portrait of a young Victorian woman.
Date: Circa 1858.
Process: Original whole plate ambrotype, hand-heightened with gold paint.
Presentation: Housed in its original period wooden frame, apparently burr cedar or birch, with the photographer's printed studio label to the reverse.
Size: Ambrotype (whole plate) approximately 8½ × 6½ in. (21.6 × 16.5 cm). Overall framed size approximately 15¼ × 13 in. (38.7 × 33 cm).
Condition
Good condition. The ambrotype displays light craquelure to the surface, as commonly encountered with examples of this age and process. The original frame remains an attractive and integral part of the presentation. Please ask if you require a more detailed condition report, or view gallery images closely.
Description
A particularly impressive whole plate ambrotype, one of the largest and most desirable formats produced during the great age of Victorian photography. Dating from around 1858, it depicts a young woman seated in three-quarter length, her neatly plaited hair and elegant dress reflecting the refined fashions of the late 1850s.
The portrait has been carefully heightened by hand with gold paint, adding subtle brilliance to her jewellery, including her necklace, bracelets and brooch. Such embellishment was an expensive finishing touch, intended to enhance the illusion of luxury and bring selected details vividly to life against the monochrome image.
She is shown holding what appears to be a Union-style photographic case, perhaps containing the likeness of a husband, fiancé or close family member. This thoughtful inclusion lends the portrait an added layer of personal and historical interest, illustrating the importance of photography as both a keepsake and a symbol of family affection during the Victorian period.
The photograph survives in its original wooden frame, apparently fashioned from burr cedar or birch, with the printed studio label of Pace & Mann of Tunbridge Wells affixed to the reverse. Original framed ambrotypes retaining their photographer's labels are increasingly difficult to find, offering valuable evidence of provenance and nineteenth-century photographic practice.
Whole plate ambrotypes were costly commissions, produced for clients seeking the finest available photographic portrait. Their impressive scale, combined with their inherently fragile nature, means comparatively few survive today in complete, untouched period presentation.
Notes
A rare and highly decorative whole plate Victorian ambrotype, enhanced with original gilt highlights and preserved in its original labelled frame from the Tunbridge Wells studio of Pace & Mann.
Particularly desirable for collectors of early photography, ambrotypes, Victorian portraiture, photographic studios, Tunbridge Wells history, hand-coloured photographs and nineteenth-century decorative arts.
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