Figure 1.--Early German CDV mounts were simple affairs with border rules. This was the standard style in other countries as well. Basic border rules were the standard style for mounts in the 1860s and 70s. This 1872 CDV mount has a single red rule. Red was a popular color, but in the 1970s we seemore different colors. Also notice the square corners. Notice the studio information at the bottom does not include the city. By the 1870s including the city was becoming standrd.

CDV and cabinet card mounts were at first destinctive. Early CDVs were done in the same style as American and British CDVs with colored ruled borders. This was a fairly common style for the mounts. It was an effort to provide framing look. The ruling may have been a matter of following early French conventions. It was something new for CDVs. Other early formats (Daguerreotypes and Ambrotypes) did not have paper mounts. It was common throughout the 1860s and 70s. The rulings varied in width and number. Red was a popular color for the rulings. The 1872 CDV here is a good example (figure 1). The early CDVs also had square corners. Rounded corners appeared in the 1870s. And the rules xalo disappeared. Another variable is the size of the photogrphic image. The card size itself was standard, but the size of the photographic image on the mount varied. We begin to see fancier CDVs in the 1880s. Gradually CDV mounts began to look just like cabinet card mounts, only smaller. This also did not occur in America to any extent. We see fancy cabinet card mounts in America, but rarely the fancy CDVs like we see in Germany.

Formats

CDV and cabinet card mounts were at first destinctive. We begin to see fancier CDVs in the 1880s. Gradually CDV mounts began to look just like cabinet card mounts, only smaller. This also did not occur in America to any extent. We see fancy cabinet card mounts in America, but rarely the fancy CDVs like we see in Germany.

Ruling

Early CDVs were done in the same style as American and British CDVs with colored ruled borders. The ruling around the image was a fairly common style for the mounts. It was an effort to provide a framing look. The ruling may have been a matter of following early French conventions. It was something new for CDVs. Other early formats (Daguerreotypes and Ambrotypes) did not have paper mounts. It was common throughout the 1860s and 70s. The ruling lines varied in width and number. The color of the ruling also varied. Red was a popular color for the rulings. The 1872 CDV here is a good example of ruling (figure 1). Red was a popular color, but in the 1970s we seemore different colors.The ruling disappeared during the 1870s. These changes varied over time and can be used to date the CDV. Our archive of dated German images is, howver. limited so we are only beginning to develop a chronology of these changes.

Corners

The early CDVs also had square corners. Rounded corners appeared in the erly 1870s, although he 1872 CDV here still had square corners. The sqiare corners could be easily damaged, the rounded corners were less suspectable to damage. Most of the CDS we see in America made the transition to rounded cners in the early 70s. We still see Gernan CDVs with square corners throughout the 1870s. A good example is a portrait of two unidentified Halle children in 1879. We do not have a large enough archive to know if square corners were still common.

Image Size

Another variable is the size of the photogrphic image. The card size itself was standard, but the size of the photographic image on the mount varied.

Front Printing

Notice the studio information at the bottom does not inckude the city. By the 1870s including the city was begoning standrd. The general format was studio name on the left and city on the right.

Created: 8:26 AM 1/12/2013
Last updated: 4:56 AM 1/6/2016