Photograph (Collodion Glass Negative) of a Young Man, Probably 1850s

Collodion glass negative. Portrait of a young man, seated full length, his right arm resting on the slope of a small bureau, a vase of flowers on top of the bureau and a flower in his buttonhole. Vertical format. Thick glass, quarter plate format (4¼ by 3¼ inches), unevenly broken (that is, deliberately) along the right edge. The collodion coating is neat but does not reach the edges, and appears lilac colour viewed from the coated side and thick cream colour viewed through the glass. The image is strong black and white with a hint of lilac when viewed by transmitted light, and reverses tones to appear as a positive by reflected light, but is not sufficiently pale to have been intended as a collodion positive. Fragment of paper label or mask on lower part of glass side. The subject's dress and hair are of strikingly modern style, though in all other respects both his surrounds and the technical characteristics of the photograph are consistent with an early wet collodion portrait of the 1850s.