Tintype,def. is a direct positive photograph using the wet-collodion and a base of iron coated with black varnish.
Tintypes were introduced in 1856 and were popular until 1867. However, some studios operated until the early 1900s at fairs and exhibitions offering the images as a novelty item.
The Rick Bell family fonds contains over 40 tintypes. Most are unidentified.
Look closely. All six of these images have something in common. They appear to have been taken in the same studio. The backdrop is quite plain. No faux painted bucolic landscape scene or gothic columns here, just a plain curtain. In some images, the curtain has been tied back with a braided cord with a tassel and in others, the curtain hangs straight down. Note the seating: in many images, the subjects are seated on the same iron chair.
Other similarities include the tapestry type table covering. Four of the five images have had colour tint applied to the tintype surface to accentuate certain features.
