The Hidden Mother

PHOTOGRAPHY BUFFS may already know about the “hidden mother” in early photographs, but some of my readers may not. So—this is for them. Shown above are two recently auctioned tintypes, both of which are excellent examples of this 19th century phenomenon. You see, most infants during that time were photographed with their mothers holding them. The intended picture was ultimately headed for a frame or mat, so the child would sit in the mothers lap for the photo. When the picture was taken, the mother simply was cropped out to serve as the backdrop.

In the top right photo, I have shown a suggested cropping, with the mother cropped out. Without a mat, the photos are decidedly creepy—but that's the way it was (under the mat), over 100 years ago. “Hidden Mother” tintypes are highly sought after by collectors.

This is an Accidental Mysteries re-post from December 2008.

Early Mourning

(Above) Tintype of two women in mourning. Click for larger view.

(Above) Detail. Click for larger view.


HERE’S A VINTAGE, SIXTH PLATE (2.25” x 3.25”) TINTYPE of two women in mourning. The rare part of this early photograph is the woman with her head down in despair, an act of informality and spontaneity rarely seen in an era of posed, and formal photography.

Image spotted on eBay.

Painted Photographs

(Above) Hand-tinted silver gelatin photograph, c. 1950s

(Above) Hand-tinted photograph, c. 1940s

(Above) Hand-tinted photobooth image, c. 1950s
(Above) Hand-tinted photobooth image, c. 1940s

(Above) Painted tintype, 19th century

(Above) Painted tintype, 19th century

(Above) Painted tintype, 19th century

(Above) Hand-tinted daguerreotype image, c. 1940s

BEFORE THE ADVENT OF COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY, AMATEURS AND SKILLED ARTISANS would simply add color with watercolor or oil paints. Some were wonderful at it, as in the 19th century daguerreotype above, and others were less than skilled. Tintypes provided a strong base for oil paint, and during that period photo studios would often an option for “color.” But just imagine, in a world where photographic technology had not yet given color (to the vast majority of people anyway), adding your own color was fairly easy to achieve.

These photographs were all for sale on eBay by various dealers.