Daguerrotypeisti?

Mrs B has been clearing out her Mum's house in anticipation of new
residents, and has found a Very Old Object. It is a wallet-sized flat
container with clasps to hold it shut. When you open it, it seems to have a
mirror in one half, but it is in fact a photographic-type picture on the
glass. The picture seems to be on the reverse of the glass and has a
silvery look - not like a "modern" B&W photo at all. Faint, and disappears
at some angles, definitely on the back of the glass, or possibly on a
separate sheet behind - it's too fragile to dismantle. From the dress of
the subjects, it looks to be pre-1900. It's about 3" x 4".

There is also a letter in there, in a beautiful but unreadable script, with
no date or name - just a lot of references to buffalos and bibles - she
thinks it's from someone who emigrated to the US long ago.

Any ideas what type of image it is?

 

TIFF?

 

If it's 4"x3¼", that's a standard size for US magic lantern slides.

 

Sucking his keyboard for inspiration, Cane typed:

No, there's no-one called Needell here.

 

Sucking his keyboard for inspiration, platypus typed:

It's a possibility - that would explain the transparent appearance. Any
idea of the technology behind it?

 

Is it greyscale or just very contrasty, like a Dago-type? I've seen ones
like that before, in exactly the type of case you describe, but they
were yonks ago and the passage of more time since would have faded them
even more to the state of the one you've found.
I think it's a silver emulsion on th back of the glass, probably
rendered as a positive - in effect it's a print on the reverse side.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

Teach a man to fish and he and his pikey mates will have the
river cleaned out in a day.

 

Lanterns, quite literally full of magic!

 

That is plain to see.

 

Sucking his keyboard for inspiration, Grimly Curmudgeon typed:

It's a greyscale - not contrasty at all, very delicate, in fact. It looks
like some kind of emulsion, but unless I can get it apart I can't see
behind - it could be etched on the back, or even just a plain image on card.
One part has been hand-coloured, which I have just seen, and may suggest it
is in fact on a card. I hope not.