Wife of Alonzo Patrick Benfield
Ambrotype (Glass etching)
Given by Vera R. Harrison
A few notes on this one:
An ambrotype is made by etching the image onto glass (in reverse, on the back side), and giving it a subtle tint. There is a dark sheet behind the glass that helps to see the image, but with just the glass itself, it is very hard to see. Images like this are always in cases to hold all the pieces together. It is impossible to scan an item like this, and because of lighting and reflection on the glass, it is difficult to take a picture of it. This image is a composite of two photographs I took, which I blended together to remove as much light glare as I could from the image itself. (Fun!) I didn’t worry about the light glare on the metal frame.