1086
of protective glass. Abraham Lincoln used a tintype
portrait button for political campaigning.
J.B Dancer’s development of microphotography in
the 1850s created a new trend—stanhopes. A micro-
scopic image could be included in any item including
jewelry. When held to the light, the magnifying glass
peephole allowed for viewing. Most stanhopes feature
multiple scenes of tourist locations.
Queen Victoria popularized photographic jewelry as
a symbol of mourning when she wore pieces adorned
with Prince Albert’s image after his death in 1861.
Most mourning pieces of photographic jewelry contain
a reminder of the deceased. In the period 1861–1880
photographs appeared in lockets and brooches with
a swiveling compartment to hold swatches of hair or
clothing. Photographer William Bambridge of Windsor
created some of the fi rst pieces worn by Queen Victoria.
She also ordered a set of nine gold lockets from Garrard
& Company, possibly for her children. Dancer designed
a mourning ring for Queen Victoria that contained a
photograph of Prince Albert attributed to John Jabez
Edwin Mayall. The Queen wore jewelry with Albert’s
image for the rest of her life, choosing a photographic
bracelet for the Diamond Jubilee.
Most of the images included in jewelry are portraits.
Usually these individuals had a familial relationship
with the owner of the piece. Today, most of these images
are nameless and separated from the original family.
Identifi cation of the image is possible based on several
factors: the type of photographic image; clothing worn
for the portrait; and jewelry setting. The photographic
method establishes a creation date for the piece, but not
necessarily a timeframe for the image. Since different
settings faded into and out of fashion, the style and type
of jewelry determines when the piece was fashionable.
Costume assigns a narrower span of dates based on
clothing details. Any locks of hair, handwriting samples,
fabric swatches, or other types of insertions behind the
picture can help identify the subject of the piece. It is
important to be careful when establishing a date for a
piece of photographic jewelry. Later images could be
set into older pieces of jewelry or vice versa. Examine
the jewelry and the image thoroughly before deciding
on a time frame.
Since photographic jewelry is collected both as
jewelry and as photography—the two linked by their
setting, it is not unusual to fi nd the jewelry without the
image. Early collectors often discarded the unidentifi ed
image. The value of a piece of photographic jewelry
depends on the type of image, the metal used, whether
it includes hair or other evidence, and the rarity of the
setting. Lockets and pins are common with rings and
keywinds the most unusual. Today, photographic jewelry
is very collectible and diffi cult to locate.
Maureen Taylor
See also: Daguerreotype; Tintype (Ferrotype,
Melainotype); Mayall, John Jabez Edwin; and
Victoria, Queen and Albert, Prince Consort.Further Reading
Bury, Shirley, Jewelry 1789–1910: The International Era
(1789–1861) Wappingers Falls, N.Y.: Antique Collector’s
Club, 1991.
Dimond, Frances, and Roger Taylor, Crown and America: The
Royal Family and Photography, 1842–1910, London, Penquin
Books, 1987.
Fales, Martha, Jewelry in America: 1600–1900. Wappingers Falls,
N.Y.: Antique Collectors Club, 1995.
Gilbert, George, with Larry West and Patricia Abbott. “Pho-
tographs to Adorn And Be Worn (The Era of Tintypes in
Jewelry).” In Photographica, vol. 20 no. 2 ( April 1991):
16–19.
Quentin, H. Les photo-bijou : matériel et procédés employés pour
l’exécution des bijoux photographiques médaillons, broches,
boutons, épingles, etc. [Photo-jewels: hardware and processes
employed for the execution of the photographic jewels medal-
lions, pins, buttons, pins, etc.] Paris: C. Mendel, 189–?.
West, Larry and Patricia Abbott, “Daguerreian Jewelry: Popular
in Its Day.” In Daguerreian Annual (1990): 136–140.
West, Larry J, and Abbott, Patricia A (with contributions by Grant
Romer, Joan Severa, and Joyce Jonas), Antique Photographic
Jewelry: Tokens Of Affection and Regard, New York, West
Companies, 2005.PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS (1858–1908)
The Photographic News was an important agent in the
popular dissemination of photographic knowledge. It
commenced publication as a weekly journal on Septem-
ber 10, 1858, selling for 3d. unstamped or 4. stamped.
The fi rst issue consisted of twelve pages of text and six
pages of adverts. Unlike the pre-existing photographic
journals, the Photographic News was not the organ of
any of the London or regional photographic societies.
The success of the Photographic News was a product
of the growing number of professional practitioners in
the late 1850s. As the introductory address of the second
volume claimed, “the News has done what other journals
of similar character failed to do; made photography a
subject of interest to the public generally” (“Preface”
iv). The range of subjects covered by the journal made
it more lively and readable than its principal competitor,
the British Journal of Photography. It quickly estab-
lished a successful format that was to last until the mid
1880s. In these years it also produced an accompanying
publication, The Yearbook of Photography and Photo-
graphic News Almanac. The main areas covered by the
journal were technical improvements and instruction;
notes and queries; critical reviews of literature and exhi-
bitions; trade gossip; and reports from the photographic
societies of Britain and Europe.
The fi rst editor of the Photographic News was Wil-
liam Crokes, a distinguished chemist who was also