Photograph (Opalotype, Framed) of Edward Chapman, c.1890

Large opalotype, a gelatine positive photograph on opal glass. Portrait of Edward Chapman, head and shoulders, looking to left, vignetted. Black and white. Retouched, some of the retouching medium being sticky. Framed and glazed, with gilded wooden mat; backing paper mostly missing. There is no identification, but the subject is Edward Chapman (1839-1906), a very influential science teacher in 19th-century Oxford and tutor of R. T. Gunther, founding Curator of the Museum. His pose and appearance resemble a cabinet format albumen print dated 1888 (66542), though he could be a little older. The opalotype process, examples of which are rare, especially of this large size (15 by 12 inches), was fashionable in the 1880s and 1890s, and employed either a carbon transfer process or (as here) a direct silver-gelatine emulsion. Some of the retouching was necessitated by the loss of clarity resulting from enlargement. 18 metal pins attached to the inside of the reverse of the frame. Two copper alloy hook and eye fixings.