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English photography negative processes albumen process cabinet cards
English Cabinet Cards
Figure 1.--Here we have a 19th century English cabinet card portrait of a 7-year old boy. The portrait was taken in 1888. American cabinet cards were often dark colors in the 1880s and light colors in the 1890s as a general case. We are not yet sure about English cabinet cards, but 1888 is gtting close to the 1890s. This cad had gilded edges and notice the light colored stock. The studio was Wolstenholm in Blackpool. Notice the general similarity with the mount styles used with American cabinet cards.
The cabinet card also used the albumen process mening negatives and mukltiple copies were possible. The cbinet card is essentially a large CDV. The cabinet card was introduced in England a few year after the CDV (1866). It was used somewhat differetly than the CDV. Cabinet cards were not used as calling cards. Like CDVs there were standard size, about 105 mm (4.5 in) by 170 mm (6.5 in). This was the same on the continent and in North America and did not change significantly until the turn-of-the 20th century. They were large enough that they coud be propped up in cabinets, on pianos, or other places in parlors and other rooms explauining the term used. Unlike in America, the cabinet cards were not an immediate success. We are not sure why there was such a difference between England and America, but we note the same pattern many other Europen countries. We do not not begin to see more English cabinent cards until the 1880s. We are not sure just when the cabinet card became the principal portrait type. We see large numbers of CDVs in the late-19th century. Many more than in America where the cabinet card quickly became the dominant format in the 1870s. We even see CDVs in England in the early-20th century. Our English archive is more limited than our American archive, thus we can not yet work out the relative importance of these formats with any precession. We do note some similarities with American portraits as to mount styles and studio posing and background settings, but because of our limited English archive we are still working out the details. While thgere were similaritie, there were also differences. We see mount style changing at the turn-of the 20th century and some different styles than in America.
Origins
Windsor & Bridge in London introduced the cabinet card (1863). It was like the CDV photographic print mounted on card stock. The tern cabinet card was named because as a result of its larger size was more suitable for display in parlors than the smaller CDV. It was often propped up in cabinets, but anoter popular place was the piano.
Characteristics
The cabinet card also used the albumen process meaning negatives and thus multiple copies were possible. The cabinet card is essentially a large CDV. It was a popular format for family portraits, although in England the CDV remained popular much longer than in America. The standard cabinet card portrait was 4" X 5 1/2" photo mounted on 4 1/4" x 6 1/2" card stock. As the mount card stock was larger than the actual pgotograph, an extra 1/2" to 1" of space at the bottom of the cabinet card was typically used for the name of the photographic studio and logo as well as the city where the studio was located. The cabinet card was used somewhat differetly than the CDV. Cabinet cards were not used as calling cards. Like CDVs there were standard size, about 105 mm (4.5 in) by 170 mm (6.5 in). This was the same on the continent and in North America and did not change significantly until the turn-of-the 20th century.
Our knowledge of English cabinet cards is still very limited. From what little we have found, the chronology seems little diffeent than in the United Srates. The popularity of CDVs seemso have pesisted longer in England than in America. We are not sure when the first English cabinet card appeared. CDVs seem to have remained the dominbt format in the 1870s. We begin to see more English cabinet cards in the 1880s and they look very similar to American cabinet cards. We note some 19th century cabinet cards in Britain that look just like those in Americ, except for the printed locations of the studio. Cabinet cards seems to have been dominant by the 1890s. We note cabinet cards with mounts that seem to follow the same stylistic trends as in America, although our English archive is too small to make a definitive statement. As in America, after the turn-of-the 20th century we notice some new mount styles. Here we begin to see more differences with American cabinet cards.
Popularity
Unlike in America, the cabinet cards were not an immediate success. We are not sure why there was such a difference between England and America, but we note the same pattern many other Europen countries. We do not not begin to see more English cabinent cards until the 1880s. We are not sure just when the cabinet card became the principal portrait type. We see large numbers of CDVs in the late-19th century. Many more than in America where the cabinet card quickly became the dominant format in the 1870s. We even see CDVs in England in the early-20th century. Our English archive is more limited than our American archive, thus we can not yet work out the relative importance of these formats with any precession.
Mounts can be very helpful in dating cabinet cards. The mounts we see in Britain including the studio unformation at the bottom of the card were very similar to American cabinet cards. We wonder if some of the sane companoes may have been involved. We note considerable similarities with American portraits as the mount styles and studio posing and background settings are virtually identical. Cabinet card mounts were very similar in thr 19th cebtury (1860s-90s). Without the studio information at the bottom, it would be difficult to differentiate American and English cabinet cards. Even the lettering is similar. This was often not the case for CDVs. Because of our limited English archive, however, we are still working out the details. While there were many similarities, there were also differences. We see mount style changing at the turn-of-the 20th century. This also occurred in America ad at the same time. At this time we more differences between English and American cabinet cards. We notice differences in sizes and decoration. As some of the bew styles do not have the studio information, identifying the countries of origin can be difficult. These mounts were mostly used for studio portraits, but at the end if the century we note that itinerant photographers were taking outdoor portraits so we also see these images on studio cabinet card mounts.
