Soldier –portrait in original case. Measures: 7 x 6 cm. Excellent condition of the ambrotype. The case is in good condition. The decoration is not included.

The ambrotype is a positive photograph on glass made by a variant of the wet plate collodion process. Like a print on paper, it is viewed by reflected light. Like the daguerreotype, which it replaced, and like the prints produced by a Polaroid camera, each is a unique original that could only be duplicated by using a camera to copy it. The ambrotype was introduced in the 1850s. Because of their fragility ambrotypes were usually kept in folding cases like those used for daguerreotypes (Wikipepdia.com).