Book-Shaped Locket Containing a Small Photograph (Collodion Positive on Glass) of a Man, 1850s or 1860s

Copper alloy rectangular book- or wallet-shaped locket, opening to reveal a very small collodion positive on glass (ambrotype) photograph of a young man, head only, looking front. Hand tinted. Thick glass. The photograph is held in a brass frame which pushes into the recess of the locket. Dark wine-red textile lining to the recess provides the dark backing required to view the photograph. The exterior is decorated with leaf-like swirls, and has a shield engraved with the initials 'MAA'. Small ring at the top (no chain).