Mid victorian ambrotype and some photoshop fun :)

Two weeks ago I picked up a lovely mid-victorian ambrotype from a local antiques fair.  I noticed immediately that her broach and belt had been coloured, but it was only after I put the photograph under the scanner and viewed it on the screen that it became apparent that the drapes, background and her cheeks had also been tinted.  I've also been having some fun with photoshop and colourized the image. The lips could have been a better shade (if i hadn't stopped tweaking the image now i would have gone on forever) but i think seeing her in colour really brings her to life.  I love the dress and would be tempted to have a go at recreating it one day.  I'm sure i've got some fabric in my stash that would work :D

Outer case

Inner case

Original scan

Tweaked in photoshop with a little bit of cleaning up

Close up 1

Close up 2

Colourized in photoshop

Celebrating the anniversary of Queen Victoria's Birthday. Images of Englands virtuous Queen.

Today (May 24th) marks the 194th anniversary of Queen Victoria's Birthday.  It always saddens me how often I see Victoria portrayed as the stereotypical post Albert old lady in black, especially during events that are aiming at the era before Albert's death (pre 1861).  So to celebrate her birthday here are my favourite images of Queen Victoria during her heyday, from the beginning of her reign at the age of 18 to the death of her beloved Albert in December 1861 when she was 42.

 Queen Victoria c.1839

Queen Victoria by John Partridge 1840 the Royal Collection

 Queen Victoria, Henry Pierce Bone, 1840. Photo: Royal Collection

 Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (1819-1901) by Charles Brocky in 1841.

Queen Victoria, William Essex, 1841. Photo: Royal Collection.

Queen Victoria

by Mrs Edwin Dalton (Magdalena Ross), after Sir William Charles Ross

lithograph, 1843

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) by Robert Thorburn in 1844

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) by Franz Xaver Winterhalter in 1845.

The Royal Collection

 Queen Victoria by unknown artist. 1840s.

  Queen Victoria 1845

 Queen Victoria 1847  Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Queen Victoria with Prince Arthur 1850 Franz Xaver Winterhalter

  Queen Victoria, 1850s. 

The Cousins: Queen Victoria and Victoire, Duchesse de Nemours by Franz Xaver Winterhalter 1852

wikipaintings

 5th July 1854 Photograph showing a three-quarters length right profile portrait of a seated Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. She rests a photographic portrait of Prince Albert on her lap. In July 1854, Queen Victoria commissioned Duppa to take a photograph of her, as a surprise for her husband. The portrait shows the Queen holding a framed copy of a portrait of Prince Albert taken by the same photographer a few months earlier.

The Royal Collection

  Queen Victoria photographed in her wedding gown by Roger Fenton in 1854

 Queen Victoria 1855 Franz Xaver Winterhalter

 Queen Victoria 1856 by Charles Lucien Louis Muller.

Handtinted image of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria c.1850s

 Vicky with Victoria 1857

 Queen Victoria c.1850s

 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, ca 1860

1860 Queen Victoria by John Jabez Edwin Mayall (The Royal Collection)

Queen Victoria with Princess Beatrice c.1861

 Queen Victoria by John Jabez Edwin Mayall 1861

 Queen Victoria via Grand Ladies

1850s bonnets in detail

As Easter is traditionally a time for bonnets I though I'd dedicate this post to bonnets of one of my favourite eras - the 1850s.
Sometimes it can be difficult to know how to trim a blank bonnet form, so these images focus on the details of bonnet decoration from original items, photographs and fashion plates. Enjoy! :)
 

Corduroy Bonnet - Henry Ford Collection

Satin Beauty - Mirror Image Gallery

Silk Taffeta late 1850s - LACMA

c.1850 - Mirror Image Gallery

Petersons Magazine 1855

1850s drawn bonnet - Henry Ford Costume Collection

Woman in Flowered Bonnet - MET collection

Straw bonnet 1856 - MET Collection

1850s straw bonnet - MFA Collection

Petersons Magazine 1858

Ambrotype by William Edward Kilburn - National Media Museum

Cotton and wool bonnet 1850-59 - MET collection

Straw bonnet - MFA collection

Woman in a bonnet with flowers - Cosmorochester collects

 

 

New Monthly Belle 1851

1850s straw and horsehair bonnet - MET collection

Possibly Mrs Haggerty, sister of Mathew Brady - LOC collection

Pretty victorian in bonnet - Mirror Image Gallery

French bonnet c.1850 - MFA collection

Arthurs magazine 1854

Mrs Cora Vail 1854 - Missouri History Museum

Lady in furs and bonnet by Plumbe - Mirror Image Gallery

 

 Ribbon detail, French bonnet c.1850 - MFA collection

Ribbon detail, Straw bonnet 1856 - MET collection

Aunt of Franz Friedrich - MET collection

Victorian beauty - Mirror Image Gallery